What if?
by Light-Blue Flower
Summary: Matthew Williams has just been accepted to attend Roma's International Academy. On his first day, Matthew meets Gr.10 Gilbert Beilschmidst in his Gr.9 Math class. A friendship soon spawns, and Matthew realised something that he thought would unlikely happen...details inside. Multipairings, PruCan, FrUk, AmeriPan, Ex-FACE. Sorry for the trouble, there no room for the whole summary.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Hello there readers! So, this may be my first attempt of trying to make an AU High School Fiction (and with Hetalia, too!). Just before I start with the story, I have decided to just write a proper summary (since I'm betting that the summary didn't give many details :/ I never really liked that), with more details. These are just the main things that you may need to keep in mind (thought, I highly doubt you need to really remember). Here is the following:**

Summary:

Matthew Williams has just been accepted to attend _Roma's International Academy. _Along with his twin brother, Alfred F. Jones, he plans on making the most out of the next four years, and try his best to ignore the two major facts that:  
1) His parents have been separated for 4 years, and his father, Francis Bonnefoy, is not always there for him and is in depression.  
2) His other father, Arthur Kirkland, is the English teacher at the high school, and he'll be keeping a close eye on him.  
However, if you add the fact that most of the school knows your arrogant brother by halfway through the first day, and you are often mistaken for him, one would go insane. That was what he thought during the first few classes of his first day. That is, until he met Gilbert Beilschmidst, the cute, trouble-making Gr.10 German student who sits beside him in his Gr. 9 Math Class. Avoiding Gilbert doesn't really work out at first, and soon, an unlikely friendship spawns between them. He soon finds a shadier side in the youth, and later on, Matthew realises something that he didn't think would likely happen…And that's when more problems start to roll in with his family.  
Matthew is just going to have to try to survive his first year in high school, through all the drama that goes on from both at and outside of school.

Universe: AU High School  
Genre: Romance, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Humour and last but not least…Drama (because anything Hetalia will have a little drama?)  
Rating: T (I highly doubt I'd be writing anything explicit. All the characters do is swear…a lot.)  
Pairings: PruCan, with a side story for Ex-FrUk (it will end up as FrUk!…I'll be making an individual fic for that) and maybe AmeriPan (may make one individual fic too), random multi-pairings that I can't name right now, but I can name the following: GerIta, SpaMano, TurGree, AusHun, SweFin, RoChu, LietPo, etc. Ex-FACE family when introduced, but it will end happily.

**This story includes A LOT of gay couples (well duh. It's Hetalia we're talking about XD). If you are homophobic, then don't read this story. I don't need a bunch of people writing hate comments, or hating on me for writing this. Seriously. Don't even read if you don't like boy pairings. And anyway, what I write isn't actually pro Yaoi…it's more romantic…I think…O_o'*Ahem***

**Also, I plan on having other stories that may or may not have links with this story, but it takes place in the same universe. But, you don't need to worry about that! All you need to do is enjoy the story! **

** Please know that my French is Canadian French (it's different, apparently from France French. Either way, I know and understand the language well…well, I'm not really that grand, I understand it perfectly fine, and the problem is grammar). Anyway, please, continue on to the next page please! And, thank you for clicking on this story!**


	2. Prologue

Prologue

He opened both of his lavender eyes tiredly as he heard the sounds of yelling from outside his and his brother's room. He forced himself to look at the digital clock, and he was only able to make out the one number, which were _3. _Slowly sitting up, the boy can hear a few more yelling.

"You are so bloody stupid, you know that? You were playing with me and I fell for it! I actually fell for it!" The boy was now curious at what the yelling was about, and he slowly crawled off his bed, trying to wake up his brother who was sleeping beside him. Unfortunately, his brother noticed the lack of another body heat beside him, and he also woke up.

"M-Mattie? Where ya going?" said the boy's brother, tiredly, followed by a yawn.

"Alfred!" Matthew quickly shushed his brother, and slowly opened their bedroom door. Alfred, now curious, got out of bed and stood beside his brother, perking his ears so he can listen too. The more they listened, they realise it was both their parents who were yelling at each other. It did not sound nice at all.

"No and it was wrong to lie to you," they heard their father, Francis, said. "I am sorry. But, don't go."

"Don't go?" whispered a confused Alfred. "What does he mean by that?"

"I don't know!" Matthew said (whispered) back. "I just woke up to the yelling right now." The boys continued to listen attentively to the door. They couldn't make out the words, since it sounded like they were muttering.

"F-Francis, let go," they heard their other father, Arthur, said to them. Matthew couldn't help but notice how he sounded like he was in some sort of pain. There was no response from Francis. There was another plea to let go, and once again, no response.

"Please, let go of me! It hurts! You're hurting me!" They heard Arthur cried, this time with more pain in his voice. Matthew and Alfred looked at each other uncertainly, before they heard the sound of glass crashing, and things hitting the wall in the room right beside theirs; their parents' room.

"Don't touch me!"

"A-Alfred," Matthew whimpered, not liking the sounds and the yelling. "I think we should go see what's wrong." Alfred looked at him, and just looked at him shockingly.

"Matthew, I don't think we should…"

"Please?" Matthew pleaded, sounding like he was about to cry. Alfred couldn't bear to see his brother that way, and gave in scarcely.

"…Alright." They both started to walk quietly to their parents' room, where Alfred peeked in first, and Matthew was right behind him. They found Arthur, crying and throwing random bottles at Francis, who was doing his best to avoid them.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I didn't mean to hold you that tightly…" Francis said, as he dodged the items.

"That's what you always say! Now look at when you don't mean to do anything!" Matthew was sure that his parents' were going to go on, and was about to retreat by taking a few steps back. However, Arthur noticed it, and looked at the direction of the door. Francis, in turn, turned around to see them.

"D-Dad?" Alfred asked, his voice shaking. Matthew let out a small whimper, as if he was trying to tell Alfred he shouldn't be talking. "What's going on?"

"Alfred. _Mathieu_. It's nothing-"

"Boys. Go pack your things." Alfred and Matthew looked at one another confusingly.

"W-What? Why…"

"Do not ask questions! Just pack your clothes and other necessities right now!" At that moment, Alfred must have known they would be done for, so he grabbed Matthew's arm and scurried away to their room.

"A-Al?" Matthew asked, as Alfred closed the door, and he opened their closet.

"You heard what Dad said, Matthew." Alfred said quickly, as he took out a bag. He shoved his clothing in there. "We…have to pack our things."

"What? B-But why…"

"Matthew, do it now!" Matthew just stared at Alfred, his eyes big. He could see a mixture of terror and confusion in Alfred's eyes, as if he didn't want to go against what his Dad just said. He was just as much lost as Matthew is.

"O-Okay," Matthew whispered, and went to grab his things. Once he did, he noticed how his pet bear was on the floor, looking at the brothers confusingly. Not wanting to leave him, he just picked him up in his arms. The cub let out a small growl in confusion.

"It's okay. I'm Matthew, remember?" Matthew whispered into the bear's fur. Their Dad (Arthur) appeared in their room with his bag and violin case.

"Come along, now," he said, his voice was as cold as ice. They made their way in silence into the car, and Arthur locked the door behind them. He soon sat in the driver's seat, and started the car. He reversed the car, and they started to drive down the road. Both Matthew and Alfred still had no idea what was going on. But, for one thing for sure, they didn't see their _Papa _(Francis) for a few more weeks. And their parents' had a thing called, a 'separation'.

**A/N: Thank you fro reading the Prologue! Please, read and review. I would like to know others opinion on how I started the story.**


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"MAPLE!" was the first words that flew out of the now thirteen-years-old mouth when he first saw the letter in the mailbox that stood right next to the front door.

The letter was addressed towards Matthew Williams (which was him, obviously), and was from one of the high schools that Matthew really wanted to get in. It was no ordinary high school, however. It was from the international high school Matthew tried to join: _Roma's International Academy!_

Roma's International Academy (R.I.A or RIA)… a well-known world-wide boarding high school, which only accepts those with a total average of 95% on the entrance exams…or simply accepts the tuition fees for those not on scholarships, which can go up to $10 000 (or more). Of course, most would aim for the scholarship since it's better than paying a big chunk of money per year. They also offer different scholarships also, like sports scholarships, art scholarships, etc.

In Matthew's case, he has decided to try to get an Academic Scholarship. He has a pretty good chance of getting accepted, since he excels in both academics and sports. It's also a good distance from his house, since all he has to do is take a few buses and he'll be able to get to school in no time. Those who live further away (city or country-wise) are allowed to stay in the dorm that the school offers. This is the only international (and academic) high school that is near both him and his brother, Alfred.

Quickly, taking all the mail out of the box, Matthew escaped the chilly February morning wind into the warmth of his house. He quietly closed the door shut, not wanting to wake his father up, and took off his shoes and socks quietly before entering the main hall. He walked quietly and quickly towards the kitchen, placing all the bills and newspapers on the dining table, and plopping himself on one of the wooden chairs.

He looked at the letter with a mixture of excitement and frightening in his eyes. He's excited to see the results, but he's also scared that he didn't get in. Or, what's worse, he got in and Alfred didn't!

It took a minute for Matthew to finally work up the guts to open the letter…that is, it was then when he worked up the guts that a certain pet polar bear decided that the letter was a snack.

"Kumaj-" Matthew began, but stopped immediately, when realising that he doesn't remember his pet polar bear's name. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he can't seem to say it. "Kuma...? Kuma-a-a….Whatever! Kuma, give that back! That letter is really important!" Matthew tried tackling the bear, but the little cub was able to avoid getting captured. Kumajiro (the polar bear) looked at Matthew with wide eyes and a confused look.

"You know damn well who I am! Now, give it back!" Matthew yelled, attempting to capture the bear. After two tries, Matthew finally got the (now soggy) letter out of the bear's mouth.

Looking at it in disgust, Matthew slowly opened the letter, making sure that he wasn't touching the bear's saliva. Somehow, the letter wasn't drenched or wet. Sitting down on the cold, marble floor, Matthew started to read the letter, skimming through it at first, and then reading slowly, making sure he read each line correctly.

He stared at the letter blankly, letting his wavy, blonde hair fall in front of his face. He suddenly heard footsteps walking down the staircases that led to the second floor, and halting at the entrance of the kitchen.

"_Bon matin_," said a voice with a thick French-accent. Matthew looked up to see a tall, lean man, leaning on the door-way leading to the kitchen. The man has the same wavy blonde hair that Matthew has, but his is pulled back in a low ponytail. He seemed to have just woken up, and was still from his clothes from his night-shift at the bar. His shirt and pants were worn-out, and had many creases. He still had a pin on the left side of his shirt, with the name _Francis Bonnefoy_, carved into it. The man raises his right hand, and placed it on his chin. "_Tu faisais beaucoup du bruit."_

"_Ah, Papa! Salut!_" Matthew exclaimed, picking himself off the ground. He quickly dusted himself. "_Je m'excuse. Est-ce que je t'ai réveillé?_"

"_Ouais, mais c'est correct. Qu'est-ce que c'est ça dans ta main?_"

"_C'est juste une lettre. Elle a été envoyé par une école secondaire ! Er, est-ce-que c'est correct si je téléphone _Dad _et Alfred maintenant? _You can read the letter now if you want!"

"Go ahead," he replied, moving out of Matthew's way. As Matthew called his Dad, Francis walked towards the kitchen counter, picking up a lost polar bear cub from the floor. Francis held the letter in one hand, and started to scan through it quickly. He finished by smiling to himself.

"Hello, Dad?" Said Matthew from the hallway. "No, wait, Alfred? ….Yeah, I'm SO sorry for waking you up at 9 in the morning…No, I'm not seriously sorry….Okay, calm down. I was just wondering, but did you receive any mail addressed to you? ….No? Can you check your mailbox? …C'mon Alfred, please? Can you also open it, too? …Why? Oh, well because I got a letter from R.I.A, and guess what? …Okay, okay, I'll let you open your letter first…So? ….You got in?! Oh, that's wonderful! I got accepted to the scholarship too! I guess we can finally go to the same school again!"

* * *

**Translations (Sorry if the English is not as accurate!):  
****_"Tu faisais beaucoup du bruit."_**_ : You were making a lot of noise._  
**_"Ah, Papa! Salut! Je m'excuse. Est-ce que je t'ai réveillé?" :_**_ Ah, Dad! Hi! I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?  
__**"Ouais, mais c'est correct. Qu'est-ce que c'est ça dans ta main?" :**__ Yeah, but it's alright. What's that in your hand?  
__**"C'est juste une lettre. Elle a été envoy**_**_é par une école secondaire_**_**! Er, est-ce-que c'est correct si je téléphone**_** Dad ****_et Alfred maintenant?" :_**_ It's just a letter. It was sent by a secondary school. Er, is it alright if I can call Dad and Alfred now?_

**A/N:...Yep, so that's really all there is. Sorry, guys, it was a pretty weak chapter. *Sigh* Oh well. Thank you for reading, and please review!**


	4. Chapter 2

**A/N: I really have nothing to say, but that Prussia will be debuting in this chapter (Yes, the AWESOME PRUSSIA!) I'm on a roll, guys, I wrote these chapter in advance XD Thank you very much of following and reading the following chapter! Hope you guys enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, and I surely don't have enough imagination to think up of Legalos of _The Lord of the Rings_ (Although I forgot most of the things that happened -_- I'm planning on re-reading it anyway)**

** EDIT: Instead of Mr. Roma, I'm putting Mr. Vargas (because it obviously makes more sense to say it at this point). **

Chapter 2

Looking at himself in the mirror, Matthew slowly tried to fix his black tie. Today was the day. It's the dreaded day for students to go back to school! This, in other words, also means the first day of high school for Matthew.

After fixing his tie, Matthew quickly started tucking in his shirt, making sure his uniform is in order. Soon after his letter of acceptance, Matthew had to send in his measurements so the academy can prepare his uniform. Originally, new students will be receiving their uniforms when they first get assigned their dorm room. The uniforms would be prepared and in their rooms.

In both Matthew's and his brother's, Alfred's, case, they received their uniforms early on, since they lived near the schools, and their Dad was able to pick it up, since he works as a teacher there.

After double checking to make sure his uniform is alright, Matthew picked up his bag, and silently made his way downstairs. He made sure not to make a lot of noise when he started to prepare pancakes for himself and Kumajirou. He didn't want to wake up his _Papa_, especially since he had 10 hours-shift the previous night at the bar he worked at.

Eating his pancakes quickly, and washing his dish, he fished out his cell phone out of his pocket. He checked the time, which bear the time _7:30_. During the previous day, Matthew made plans with Alfred over the phone on when they would meet up, to take the public transit together. Since it would take them around 10 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop, and 30 minutes to take the bus to get to the academy, they figured that they could make it to the Grade 9 orientation that started at 8:30 if they left the house at 7:30.

Matthew clicked on his brother's speed-dial number, and waited. By the sixth ring, Alfred decided to pick up the phone.

"Who the fuck are ya, and why are you calling this early?" said a snappy voice, and was followed by a loud yawn. Matthew sighed in disappointment.

"Hey Alfred. It's Matthew," he replied quietly to the voice.

"O-oh, hey dude! Why are you calling so early?"

"Alfred, do you know what today is?"

"…It's a Tuesday, right? Am I riiiiight, bro?"

"Yes, you're right Alfred. But, today is also the first day of school."

"Oh, yeah…Wait, WHAT?!"

"We were supposed to meet up at the bus stop. Does that ring any bells?"

"Uh, what time is it dude?"

"Um, 7:30. And, I was just calling to tell you that I'm on my-" Matthew was disturbed by a suddenly loud thud from the opposite line. "U-Uh, hello? Alfred?"

"WHOAH, WHAT?" Alfred yelled into the receiver, making Matthew almost go deaf. "IS IT THAT TIME ALREADY? SHIT! Hey, Mattie, thanks for calling! I totally forgot bro! I meant to set my alarm clock, I forgot to! I'm sorry man! But, I promise to get to the bus stop by ten minutes! You can count on me Mattie! Later dude!"

"W-What? O-Oh, okay then. Bye." By the time Matthew finished his line, his brother already hung up on him, leaving Matthew hanging. Matthew sighed again, and walked towards the door. He slowly put on his socks and shoes, and left without saying another word.

_Typical Alfred,_ Matthew thought to himself as started to walk on the sidewalk. _He's still as tardy as when we were younger._

It hasn't been long since the brothers have seen each other, but it has been around 4 years since they went to school together. Ever since their parent's separation when they were 10, they had to split up between the two. Matthew lives with their _Papa_, Francis, while Alfred lives with their Dad, Arthur Kirkland. Since Matthew was in a French Program, and Alfred remained in the regular program, they had to go to different schools, since Alfred's home school is different.

Of course, when they were younger, Matthew was always up bright and early (although, he hated being woken up, like his brother), while Alfred just slept in until the last minute. It seems to Matthew that he's going to have to return to their system when they were younger, but instead Matthew would have to call him every day.

* * *

"Finally! Is it just me, or does the school look bigger than before?"

"I think it's just you."

Matthew and Alfred were able to make it to the academy early, as originally planned. They made it with an extra 20 minutes to spare. They were at the main foyer at the moment. Right where the foyer is, there are doors on the wall, leading to what seems to the auditorium they were supposed to be at. There were two long white tables, with short line-ups.

"What is this for?" Alfred asked.

"I'm pretty sure that that's where we have to register," Matthew replied, looking up and down the row. "It's funny, but it doesn't seem like a lot of students are here…I was expecting more."

"Of course not!" said a lively voice behind the brothers. They turned around to face a boy that could have been around their age. He was wearing the school's uniform, which implies that he also attends the school. The boy had the whitest hair Matthew has ever seen, and he had crimson coloured eyes. It was a first for Matthew, for he never seen someone with red eyes.

"You guys must be the new freshies! Well, welcome to the school, my dear Birdies! Kesesesese~" the albino said, reaching out his hand. From his accent and how he pronounced his 'w's, Matthew guessed he was somewhere from Germany. Although his laugh was creepily weird, Matthew felt the need to shake his hand in return. The albino noticed Matthew, and he leaned in closer, and let out a low whistle.

"Wow, I didn't know they'd have a real cutie amongst the freshmen." That comment made Matthew turn slowly red, and have a flustered looked on his face. Alfred, noticing, came in between Matthew and the albino.

"Who are you?" The albino glared at Alfred with a look of disbelief.

"You do not know who I am? Well, I shall introduce myself. I am the one and only, awesome Grade 10, Gilbert Beilschmidt, from the most powerful nation of all times: PRUSSIA!" He seemed like he was about to laugh, but someone hit him on the back of his head.

"**_Bruder_**, please, I asked you to take me to the registration desk. Not to make a fool out of yourself," said another German-accented voice, but was deeper that Gilbert's. Both Alfred and Matthew looked at the boy behind Gilbert. He was taller that Gilbert by many inches, and has blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. He also seems to be very muscular, from what Matthew could see from his arms, since he was wearing on a white collared T-shirt with the _R_ insignia.

"Geez, _West_! Must you be that way?"

"I am sorry if my _Bruder_ did anything to harm you guys," said the tall blonde. "Are you in Grade 9?"

"Y-Yes, we are," Matthew spoke up.

"Oh, okay. I'm in that grade as well. Sorry about that. What my _Bruder_ was trying to say is that they don't usually get a lot of students that get accepted this year. It's normal to see this much students. Although, there are more in the auditorium, and most are still at their dorms, since they came in yesterday. You guys should start registering now. The line for the Grade 9 is right there. They should give you your schedules, and other necessary things." The boy pointed towards one of the lines that were at the end of the second table.

"Yep, thank you man!" Alfred said, before dragging Matthew. "By the way, what's your name? Ya know, since we might end up in the same class in the first semester!"

"It's Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt." Alfred just nodded, and continued to drag Matthew to the line. As they got near the line, Matthew spoke up.

"Well, that was random. Although, they seem nice…"

"Are you kidding me Mattie? Sure I guess the Ludwig guy's cool, but that albino looks like a creep," Alfred sputtered, looking kind of worried look on his face. "No, wait. He IS a creep!"

"Alfred, that's not really nice to say…" Matthew won't deny the fact that the albino scared him a bit. Not only how he looks, but also how he talks. It sounds like he'll do something to you when you least expect it. After ten minutes in the line, Matthew could see Alfred eyeing people.

"Man, there are so many males students amongst the freshmen. I just noticed that," Alfred said, switching the topic. Matthew looked around. Alfred was partly right. There doesn't seem like there was a lot of girls amongst the freshman. In front of Alfred was small boy, with light brown hair, with a big curl on left side of his head. He was chattering none-stop to the person in front of him, and Matthew could tell that he was most likely from Italy. Behind Matthew, there was another boy, with pure black hair, and almost black eyes. He was most likely from some part of the Oriental parts of Asia. He was either Japanese or Chinese…

"Maybe they got sent to the dorms? Or inside the auditorium."

"Hm, could be."

"Next." said a young blonde woman. She had red framed-glasses, that hid her blue eyes, and she seemed really serious. "Name?" she asked Alfred.

"Um, Alfred? Alfred F. Jones." Alfred said, stuttering.

"Mhm…Jones….Here you go. Please enter the auditorium and remain seated."

"I'll see you inside, bra!" Alfred yelled, making his way towards the auditorium. A few people looked at Alfred like he was crazy, but returned to the conversation they had.

"Is that your brother?" the woman asked. Matthew nodded flustered.

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry if he's loud."

"It's alright. You don't need to apologise. Your name?"

"Matthew Williams." The woman looked at him with wide eyes.

"Your father is Francis Bonnefoy, yes?"

"Um, yeah. Well, that's his name, that is. Why?"

"Oh…well, I guess you wouldn't remember me. You guys were young after all…You look so much older…Here you go."

"T-Thank you." Matthew scurried away into the auditorium. It was dark, and it took Matthew some time to adjust to the dim lighting. He found Alfred, who was waving madly in the front row of the auditorium.

"This is the best seat you can get?" Matthew said, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, sorry dude. All the back seats were taken. Anyway, Matthew, I'd like you to meet Kiku Honda," Alfred said, pointing towards the same Asian boy that was behind him in line. It confused Matthew a bit about how quickly the boy made it in the auditorium before Matthew.

"You already made an acquaintance?" Matthew said, looking at Alfred curiously, before sitting beside him.

"Well, yeah. He's in the same class as me for Integrated Technology and Gym. I would have met him sooner or later, anyway."

"Sorry. It's nice to meet you, Kiku. My name's Matthew, and if you hadn't guessed, I'm that idiot's brother." Matthew said, lending out his hand. Kiku seemed to have twitched when Matthew called him by his first name, and lend out his hand. He then shook Matthew's hand firmly.

"**_Gomen'nasai_**," Kiku replied back calmly. "I'm not used to western culture yet. It's a pleasure to meet you, Matthew-san."

"Oh, are you from Japan?" Matthew said, recognising how he used his honorifics, and when he apologised. "If you are more comfortable, I can call you Honda-san, if you want."

"No, it's alright. You don't mind me calling you by your first name, correct?"

"No, I don't mind at all." Kiku smiled a small smile.

"Ah, that's good to hear." Matthew nodded, and started to open the package the woman with the long, blonde hair gave him. He couldn't help but feel like Alfred was glaring at him while he was talking to Kiku.

Matthew checked his schedule for the first semester. The school decided to split the main eight subjects into two different semesters: four for the first semester (which lasted from September till the end of January) and the rest of the courses for the second semester (which lasted from February till the end of June). If a student chooses to take extra classes, then they'd have to attend the Night Classes, or the Saturday Classes. Matthew looked at the four courses.

On the paper, it had the teacher's name, the course's name, the room number, and the period:

_Period 1- Gr. 9 Business-__**Lisa Mona**__-313  
Period 2- Gr. 9 French- __**Cameron Nzi****é-**__202  
Lunch  
Period 3- Gr. 9 Physical and Health Education (M) - __**Mogen Lars**__- Gym 1  
Period 4-Gr. 9 Math- __**Aegypstus Khemet**__- 305_

"Say, Alfred?" Matthew asked, when he noticed that his brother was completely turned away from him. Leaning forward, he could see that he was chattering non-stop with Kiku, and another boy that was beside Kiku. The boy had olive skin, and he had brown, wavy hair, that went up to his shoulders, and little random double curls sticking on top.

"Alfred!" Matthew repeated. Alfred actually heard him this time, and turned around.

"Yeah, Mattie?"

"Can I see your schedule?" Alfred nodded, and gave the schedule to Matthew. Matthew, in turn, quickly scanned down his brother's list of classes. The only thing he had with him was Gym and, unfortunately, he did not like to think of having to have the same Sexual Health Education class with his brother. His brother decided on taking Spanish (which Matthew had no idea on why he'd choose that as his second language course), Integrated Technology, and he ended up with Science.

After another twenty minutes of sitting down, there were two men who came up on the stage. They both looked fairly young, one with dark brown curly hair and a huge smile, and the other with long, light blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. The second one looked familiar to Matthew for some odd reason.

"Yo, Matthew!" Alfred whispered drawing Matthew's attention. "Doesn't that old man with the blonde, long hair look familiar to you? Like, other than the character, Legalos, from that book, _The Lord of the Rings?_"

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Especially the blue eyes…"

"Ve~ oh, is he your grandfather, Ludwig?" said a high voice behind the brothers. They both looked behind them in unison, to find the same boy that was in front of Alfred in the registration line-up. He was seated right beside Ludwig, who was telling him to shut up.

"He's your grandfather!" Alfred yelled. He was lucky that the auditorium was loud, and only a few people actually heard him. Matthew could have guessed that earlier on, since both had the same piercing blue eyes.

"**_J-Ja_**," Ludwig said, a bit embarrassed. "He is…Aren't you the guys from earlier? The ones that were being harassed by Gilbert?"

"Yeah, I guess we were. Sorry, I never actually told you my name. My name is Alfred. Alfred F. Jones." Alfred stated proudly. Before Matthew can introduce himself, Alfred spoke again. "And this is my clone, Matthew."

"I am not your clone," Matthew hissed irritably. "I'm your **brother**."

"Ah, I see!" the Italian boy said. "My name is Feliciano Vargas! I come from Italy! You know, the other one up there is my grandpa, too."

Matthew took a moment to examine the boy. His eyes were closed, and he had a big smile on. The only thing that truly stood out of him was the big curl on his left side of his head. Matthew shifted his look between the dark-haired man and the Italian; he wouldn't be surprised that they were related. They both had the same smile, and both their eyes smiled when they did. What surprised him, however, was how the man looked WAY too young to be a grandfather. He looked like he was in his late 20's, in all honesty.

"Oh yeah?" Alfred said, looking surprised at the fact as well. "What does he work as?"

"Oh he's-"

"Feliciano, I don't think you should really tell them…" Ludwig warned him.

"There is nothing wrong with telling them, Ludwig!" Ludwig turned away, a pink blush appearing on his cheeks.

"You guys already know each other when you were younger, or something?"

"Nope! Not at all!" Feliciano said, smiling his bright smile. "Actually, I met him late in the summer! Since Grandpa's the principal, and Ludwig's grandfather is vice-principal, I met him when he brought me to the school to check on something!" Both Matthew and Alfred stared at Feliciano and Ludwig, dumbfounded.

"They're the…" Alfred began.

"…Principal and Vice-Principal?" Matthew finished right after Alfred spoke.

"Oh that's so cool!" Feliciano exclaimed, clasping his hands together excitingly. "You guys finish each other's sentences! Sometimes, me and my **_Fratello _**do that too!"

"No way-"

"No point in denying it, Alfred," Matthew said, although he was denying it in his head too. Not only are they old young-looking geezers, but they also happen to be the Principal and Vice-Principal (which, neither of the twins never knew yet), and the grand-father of two of the students that they may end up in the same class with.

"Everybody, sit down and be quiet!" yelled a voice over the speakers. Immediately, everyone shut up, and nobody moved. They all stared at the man with the long blonde hair, who was standing in front of the microphone.

"Thank you. Now, I'll leave the rest to Mr. Vargas to explain everything to you." Stepping back, he allowed the younger looking man to walk up into the microphone.

"Hello, students! Welcome to the Academy! As you may or may not know, I am the Principal of this school! And, if you still don't know, I was also the one that founded this school 35 years ago!" Matthew was betting that many people have now on the brink of fainting.

* * *

**Translation:**

**Bruder (German)= Brother  
Gomen'nasai (Japanese)=I'm sorry  
Ja (German)= Yes  
Fratello (Italian)= Brother**

**Characters Used (Teachers):**

**Lisa Mona: Monaco  
Mogen Lars: Netherlands  
Cameron Nzié: Cameroon  
****Aegypstus Khemet: Ancient Egypt**  



	5. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for following and reading! (Thanks to ****_XxLadyOfSinxX,_****_spiritualnekohime4, _****for reviewing! I enjoyed reading them, they're give me a good laugh at times :D). Thanks to _Minooshka_ for correcting my French grammar (I'll be sending more things to edit, if you don't mind). Well, the school being used in this story is quite confusing at first...In all honesty, this is how my school is like XD We literally have five floors and different wings...It's confusing at first, but it'll be understandable the more people are used to it.**

** Hooray, I made a book cover for this! It's not really that great thought :/ Well, it's my first time usingthe computer to edit my drawing. Hopefully it's good.**

**Just, letting you guys know, I left this chapter on a cliffhanger (Bwahaha, I'm so evil...No, not really). *Ahem* Anyway, thank you for continuing to read this story! Please enjoy this chapter! I thank you in advance.**

** EDIT: For those who read the first copy of this, I just added Ancient Rome's full name and what he'll be called from now on. For those who are just reading this, then just ignore this message and please read on!**

Chapter 3 

_Well, that was tiring, for some reason_, Matthew thought to himself, following the rest of the students up the staircases. They were all briefly introduced to Mr. Vargas. The principal insisted that the students would just call him 'Mr. Roma' (His whole name is Romulus Vargas, but most calls him Roma), since 'Mr. Vargas' makes him feel and sound really old like Mr. Beilschmidt (the vice-prinicipal). After a brief introduction, Mr. Roma started to introduce the staff that worked there. Apparently, Matthew's business teacher is the same dark blonde lady from the registration desk. The students had to file out, following their homeroom teacher class, per class. Matthew left before Alfred, since his class was somewhere in the technology wing, on the 5 floor.

Matthew thought it would be an easy walk. Boy was he wrong. It could be because he was lying around at home during the whole summer. Or, it `could be because the school was just too damn big. It was some sort of workout for not only Matthew, but for the other knew students too. He felt bad for this timid, smaller boy, who had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He was behind the others, and had a bigger sack that looked heavy for him.

"Do you need help?" Matthew asked quietly to the boy. The boy jumped, and looked at him.

"N-no. I'm alright." The boy continued to scurry away. Matthew followed right after him. They finally made it to the class room. There were computers lined up against all three walls, and two rows in the middle. In the front, there stood the teacher's desk, and a white board.

"Alright, students," said the blonde. "Please take a se-" Before she could finish, all the students immediately took a random chair, obviously tired from the hike. Staring at them for a moment, she walked up to her desk.

"Um, alright then. I would like it if we start with introductions before anything. My name is Lisa. My last name is Mona. I'm from France. This is actually my first year in this school. As you can tell, I teach Business. I'll be also teaching some of the Grade 11 and 12 Business classes, like Accounting and International Business Fundamentals. Hopefully, after this course, you would like to continue on the road of business studies." After she introduced herself, Matthew couldn't help but feel a wave of familiarity wash over him. He just shrugged it off. Lisa went to open a drawer in her desk, and pulled out a stack of papers.

"Please hand this around the room. This is just the basic outline of this course. After you are done, we shall introduce ourselves individually."

Matthew took a sheet from the pile, and handed it over to the kid beside him. It was the same one from the hallway.

"Matthew, why don't you introduce yourself?" Matthew turned around, shocked by how the teacher remembers his name. Even though Ms. Mona only heard his name once (from the registration desk), he find it kind of weird how she remembers his name…and creepy, in a way.

"A-Alright," Matthew whispered, wishing he would speak up a bit and not stutter. He stood up. "My name is Matthew Williams. Um, I'm born on the July 1st. I'm 14 of age…." By that point, it was quite obvious that half the people weren't actually paying attention, but are actually whispering amongst themselves. Matthew decided to stop there for now. "Uh, that's all, really." He sat back right down. Why is it that he felt that today was going to be an extremely long day?

* * *

Shutting his locker shut, Matthew let out a sigh. He felt completely exhausted for some reason, even though he had only got through half of the day. During business, all they really did was mingle amongst them. Ms. Mona also assigned them their lockers during that time, so those with locks on them can put their bags and books there.

Matthew was able to find out the name of the small boy from the hallway. His name is Ravis Galante, and he came from Latvia. Although, he didn't seem to like to talk much, and he seemed easily frightened by Matthew, who was bigger than him. He didn't want to say, but he could have sworn someone very tall was following Ravis around.

After that, Matthew moved on to his next class-French. He found that he would be able to pass the class easily, since he already knows the language very well. His teacher, Monsieur Nzié, seems a tad bit scary at first. He came from a country called Cameroon, in Africa, where French was one of the main languages. However, once you get used to his cunning height, and deep voice, he's actually a nice guy. Although, his knowledge in English is limited (he's still in the process of learning), so Matthew can't help but chuckle at how confuse the man was when he read the sheet of paper outlining the French Course, which was written in English.

It was now time for lunch. It lasted for one hour, and since Matthew doesn't know the school grounds off by heart, he's going to have to run around the school just to find the cafeteria. He doesn't know where Alfred was. He knew that he had Spanish when Matthew has French, but he was sure that Alfred would not be on the opposite side of the Language wing (which is the second floor).

He prepared for the long walk, so he started to walk to the hallway, until he came to a random door, which led to the second floor. _Okay_, Matthew thought to himself. _So far, I know where I am. I'm at the Language Wing._ He started to walk down the wing, turning the random turns, until he came to a door that led to another flight of stairs that led both up and down. Deciding not to take the risk, he just went through another set of doors, which led to the Foyer-or, the Main Hall- and found himself at the front of the school, where he and Alfred first entered.

_Alright! Now, I know that the cafeteria should be on this floor…Maybe I should turn here?_ He turned around the corner. But, before he could, he could feel someone tugging on his collar.

"Hey, **_American_**_! _Where do you think you're going?" The voice was harsh, with a thick Spanish accent. Shaking at how deep and scary the voice was, Matthew slowly turned around. He found himself face-to-face with a bigger, taller guy. The guy was a few inches taller that Matthew, and he was bigger in body size. He had tanned skin, which, in Matthew's opinion, made him think that he must come from somewhere along the islands in Caribbean. His black hair was pulled back by an elastic band, and he had noticeable thick eyebrows. All in all, Matthew was completely frightened by this stranger. The look the guy gave him didn't make him feel better at all.

"E-Excuse me?" Matthew managed to squeak, taking a step back. The boy took a step in front. "I'm sorry, but I'm not American!"

"Of course you are! You are the stupid American, Alfred Jones!" Matthew looked at him, completely confused. He took a moment to process this new-found information, until he realised what was going on.

_This is just like in elementary school…_ Matthew sighed, disappointed. Everyone –and when Matthew means everyone, he means _everyone_- has always mixed up Matthew with Alfred at least once. Ever since elementary, the students and teachers would have a hard time to tell the difference between them. Matthew found it hard to believe, especially since they weren't blood related in any way. It has its advantages…for Alfred, that is. Alfred, being the loud mouth and trouble maker that he is, would go around, challenging random people and get in trouble with the teacher. Of course, he got away with it, because _Matthew_ would get the blame. He would get bruises and detention in Alfred's place. It was only right after the incidents that people would realise that they got the wrong guy.

"U-Um, I think you mean Alfred, my brother," Matthew said, forcing a smile. "I'm Matthew." The boy looked real close at Matthew, forcing Matthew to gulp. He felt as if the boy's eyes were going to pierce through him at any second.

"Nice try, Alfred!" the boy said, grabbing Matthew by the collar. "I know it's you!"

"N-No! Really, I'm not Alfred! I don't even know who you are-"

"Lying won't help you!"

"Um…Er…" Matthew looked around, to see if there was anyone there to help him. It was just his luck that there was no one else around.

"I swear! You're mistaking me for my brother!" Matthew whispered, trying remaining calm at the possibility that the bigger boy might give him a black eye.

"Yo, Matt! Where've you been? I was looking all over the place-" Matthew tried his best to turn his head fully around. Alfred stood there, staring at both Matthew and the bigger boy. The boy looked at Alfred directly in the eye.

"H-Hey Matthew! I see that you and Carlos met! Excuse me, but I need to, uh, clean the…hamburgers…Later dudes!" And with that, Alfred made a full on past both Matthew and the boy. There was a silence that fell upon them. Finally, the boy, Carlos, let go of Matthew's collar. Matthew sighed in relief as he felt his chest lifted.

"I-I'm sorry for the misunderstanding," the boy said, looking away flustered. Matthew straightened his uniform.

"I-It's alright," Matthew whispered nicely. "This always happens to me. I get mistaken for Alfred."

"Yeah, but still, sorry." He lend out his hand at Matthew. "My name is Carlos Machado. I come from Cuba."

"As I said earlier," Matthew said, shaking his hand. "My name is Matthew. Is it alright if I were to know why you were looking for Alfred?" Carlos made a 'tsk' annoyingly.

"He was just acting obnoxious during Tech class. I told him to shut up, we got into a verbal fight, and he said that he would be able to win a fist battle with me." Matthew groaned in irritation. Leave it to Alfred to run his mouth off and challenge someone on the first day of classes.

"I'm sorry for my brother." Matthew said solemnly, tilting his head down.

"Why do you apologise for your brother?"

"Oh, um…" Matthew thought for a moment. Why does he always apologise for others? "It's just a habit I have." Carlos just nodded at his answer.

"I'm going to the cafeteria. Would you like to join me?" Matthew looked at him with hope. He could finally find the food heaven! He was terrible hungry at that point.

"S-Sure!" And so, they continued on walking down the hallway.

"This is an important question: Do you like ice cream?"

"U-uh, that was random, but yeah, I do. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

* * *

Matthew grimaced when he entered the room. It was the last period of the day. Matthew just has to survive through this class before he can go home and organised everything. He thought that it'd be easy, since Math was simple for him. There were only two small problems about the class though.

The first small problem **he** was there. The same creepy albino from earlier in the morning was there, in the classroom. Matthew believed that his name was Gilbert. Matthew was completely confused when he saw him. He still remembers him saying that he was in the 10th Grade. He had to look at the classroom number plate outside the door a hundred times to make sure that he was at the same class for Grade 9 Math.

The second problem was, by the time he came to the classroom, all the seats were taken, except for the one in the very last row, right beside a seat near the window. The albino has the seat by the window. The only empty seat was beside Gilbert's seat. Matthew shuddered as he looked around at the class. There were no more seats. Everyone has settled down, and was chattering away about something. Only the seat beside Gilbert was all that's left.


	6. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello there, readers! I would like to thank you guys for continuing on reading this story! I hope you guys enjoy this one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia, nor do I own the awesome characters.**

Chapter 4

Matthew looked at the albino, then the seat. He took a deep breath in, and started to walk over to the seat slowly. By the time he made it to the seat, he noticed how a few people were watching him. They had terror in their wide eyes. Ignoring these looks, Matthew decided to just sit down. That is, he was _about_ to sit down. Gilbert must have known someone was coming, and quickly put one of his legs on the chair just before Matthew sat down. Matthew quickly straightened up, and looked at the albino with big eyes. He kept staring straight ahead.

"U-Um, excuse me," Matthew managed to say, in no more than a whisper. "C-Can I sit here?"

"I don't know," Gilbert replied. "Can you?"

"I-I can, I guess."

"So, why don't you?" The albino said, glancing at Matthew. Matthew just stared at those blood-red eyes, a chill running down his back. They continue to stare at each other, until the albino looked at Matthew with his eyes narrowed down. He stood up, and took a closer look at Matthew.

"Do… I know you?" he asked. Matthew felt his face heat up at how close he was with Gilbert.

"I-I-I'm not sure," Matthew said, not understanding why he is suddenly stuttering out of control. It could be the close distance between them.

"…Oh!" Gilbert said, looking at him with recognition and snapping his fingers. His lips curved into a grin. "Now I remember! You're that blonde cutie with the curl from the hallway! I've wanted to know you're name!"

"Y-You have?" Matthew said cautiously, taking a seat in the chair. Gilbert nodded, as he sat in his seat. He leaned on one hand, and smirked.

"Ja, I have. You're the one with the annoying brother." Matthew could have sworn that his lips twitched in irritation. In the end, something always has to be related with his brother.

"Let me guess. You want to know who my brother is, his name, and you just feel the need to beat him up?" Matthew was expecting a 'yes', but Gilbert just chuckled.

"No, not really. He's just not awesome enough for me to spend time on him. Although, I am wondering what you're name is." Matthew looked at him in surprise. Never has anyone _asked_ for his name. They just happen to know his name because he had to plead it out when he was on the brink of being beaten up as Alfred (as seen during lunch).

"It doesn't matter what my name is," Matthew said, looking away, rummaging through his bag when there was really nothing there. He was having a feeling that he shouldn't be really communicating with Gilbert.

"It does matter because the awesome me wants to know your name." Matthew looked at Gilbert with a sense of irritation. The more that the tenth-grader talked, the more he seemed like Alfred. He emphasised 'awesome' like he was the greatest thing in the world, like how Alfred will always call himself 'a hero'. It was very, _very_ annoying. Anyone who knew Alfred and his hero addiction first hand would know how annoying it was.

"You? 'Awesome'? Please. You're just like my brother in so many ways." Matthew said (whispered), suddenly wishing he hadn't. From the looks he was receiving from the rest of the class, it made him regret ever coming in to class.

"Oh, yeah?" Gilbert said, leaning in towards Matthew, with a hiss. "How can I match your _bruder_?" Matthew felt like this was a challenge. A challenge he shouldn't accept, but he did anyways.

"You seem to be the cocky, self-centered type, who thinks that you are on a different level from others, which makes you arrogant. That is almost exactly how my brother is."

"Almost?"

"Aren't you in grade 10?"

"Yes, why?"

"You are almost like my brother. However, you are not exactly like my brother because my brother wouldn't be that much of a fool to fail a course and retake it. This, I'm guessing, is what's happening to you. Am I right?" Gilbert and Matthew looked at each other for a moment. He could have sworn that Gilbert would knock his block off. However, he did not. Instead, he started to laugh.

"Kesesesese~! Not only are you cute, but you can actually hold your grounds against me! So smartly, too. I like you, kid. Although," Gilbert leaned in closely to Matthew. "I'm letting you off the hook this time, just because I don't feel the need to invade you. But, you might not want to insult me like that again, or my opinion on you may change. Got it, Birdie?" Matthew felt another chill, and his heart started to pump like mad. He nodded, and Gilbert leaned back in his chair satisfied.

"By the way, I didn't catch your name." He said with another hiss.

"Matthew," Matthew said firmly, controlling his heart rate. "Matthew Williams."

"Matthew, huh," Gilbert muttered, before smirking and turned his view outside the window. Matthew let out a mental sigh of relief when he saw the teacher enter the room. _Thank you, whoever you are!_

"Welcome, students, to Math." She said kindly, but her voice had a hint of strength. "I will be your teacher for this course. I am indeed Aegypstus Khemet. It is Ms. Khemet to you, however." She seemed to have noticed Gilbert, because she grinned.

"It's nice to have you here, Beilschmidst." Gilbert took notice, and returned his view to her. He smirked his signature smirk.

"It's nice to have you as my teacher again, Ms. Khemet."

"Hopefully you'll actually attend and pay attention to class this term." She said, nodding as she took out the course outline. Gilbert just shrugged, and continued to stare out the window. "After all of you received a sheet, you may mingle amongst yourselves. I have nothing to hand today; I'm pretty sure that you already have your textbooks, or they placed it in your dorm room. I'm letting you guys off easy today. The hard work starts tomorrow." As everyone started to restart talking to each other for another 1 hour, Matthew just decided to stare at Gilbert the whole time.

This time, Gilbert was doing something on his phone, fidgeting with a game. Matthew took time to observe him; however, he had no idea why. He noticed how truly white his spiky hair is, and how truly blood red his eyes were. Such pale skin too. It didn't give him a sickly look. It just made him look distant from others. It made him look…beautiful. Even thought it was September (right after summer vacation) his skin looked like he was indoors the whole time. He was only wearing his white collared, with no tie. It was not buttoned properly, and wasn't tucked into his black pants. He had a black belt, but it wasn't like it went up all the way up to his waist. He was obviously trying to low-ride. There were random chains attached to the belt, and the pocket. If Matthew were to squint, he could see he was wearing some black Hard Metal Band T-shirt under his white shirt. Was he wearing…black nail polish? He was also wearing a necklace, with a black bird on it. It looked familiar to Matthew, thought, but it's not like your everyday bird.

"What's up with your necklace?" Matthew suddenly said, before realising what he said. Gilbert looked at him curiously, before grinning.

"What's this? Are you checking me out?" he said smugly. Matthew felt a blush crept on him, and he shook his head.

"Why would I want to check you out?" he snapped. "I was just wondering what that bird was."

"This? Here, try to guess what it symbolises." Gilbert said, taking of the necklace and tossing it to Matthew. Matthew caught it, surprised at the sudden motion. He looked at the black bird questioningly at first. Then, he remembered seeing the bird in a history book…

"Isn't this supposed to symbolise…Prussia?" Matthew said questioningly. Gilbert face seemed to have suddenly lit up, and he took the band out of his hands.

"You're smart, Matthew. It's the bird from the Prussian flag."

"But, Prussia is no longer a nation of World War 2. Why would you have that?"

"Because I'm from Prussia." Matthew looked at him confusingly. Gilbert noticed Matthew's confusion, and continued. "My whole family lineage lived in Prussia. Even after it's been divided, most still consider ourselves from Prussia. And besides." He lifted the bird up a bit, pointing at it. "This is awesome! And this is coming from the awesome himself!" Matthew cringed at how irritably high his voice has gotten at the last part.

"I see." Matthew said, looking away from Gilbert. He spent the rest of his time randomly doodling in his notebook. When the bell rung, he quickly got out of his seat, and ran out the door, to meet up with Alfred (wherever he was). He didn't dare look back to see if Gilbert was following him.

Something bothered him terribly from what Gilbert has said earlier. _What did he say again?_ Matthew thought to himself. _Oh, right_. "_I'm letting you off the hook this time, just because I don't feel the need to invade you."_ A chill once again ran down Matthew's spine, as he ran down the never ending hallways and staircases. Those words have so many different meanings…not good meanings, thought.

* * *

"Say, when will Dad be coming home, Matt? He could have given us a ride home, since he works at our school."

"I don't know. Maybe the teachers had some sort of meeting."

"Ah, I'm so tired!" Alfred cried, as he flopped himself on the couch. Matthew shook his head in disbelief, and locked the door to the apartment shut behind them.

"Tell me one productive thing you did during the whole day, other than picking a fight with someone." Matthew said, opening the door opposite to the front door (their bedroom), and threw his bag in. Alfred rolled over, letting his head fall over the sofa's edge, as he looked at Matthew.

"What, are you mad about that one little misunderstanding with Carlos?"

"I don't want to get beaten up in your place, that's all." Matthew walked passed him, dropping a pillow on Alfred on the way to the kitchen. He filled the kettle, turned on the stove, and sat on the opposite side of the sofa. He grabbed a pillow, and started to squeeze it. "You haven't changed at all from when we were younger." Alfred smiled proudly, not knowing how much of an insult it is.

"Oh, yeah. The good ol' times. When people would have a hard time telling who's who…"

"…And most of the time, they would mistake me for you, because of your big mouth."

"Dude, why do have to point out the bad times? Try thinking of the good times we had in elementary and mid-way through middle school. And before that too! You know, when we were together." Matthew tilted his head. Was there any good times amongst them?

"The first good thing is when I found you, I guess." Matthew said finally.

"_Au contraire, mon frère,_" Alfred said, with the worst French one could listen to. "**I** found **you**. It wouldn't be more…heroic if the hero was found by the sidekick!"

"I would never be the sidekick to **you**, lazy-ass." Matthew hissed.

"It was luck to find each other in the orphanage. I remember thinking your my clone! I still think you are, thought…"

"I am not your clone, Alfred, for the millionth time. It was luck that Dad and _Papa_ were actually willing to adopt both of us."

"I guess we could say it was a good thing that we run into them when we were running on the sidewalk."

"…You do realise that we were two years of age at that time. How the hell did we even manage to get out of the building without getting caught? Heck, how did we even walk that quickly?"

"Who knows man? All I remember is that we were about to cross the road before Dad stopped us. He even asked us where our parents were and…"

"…that's when everything really did fall into place, huh?" Matthew said, finishing his brother's sentence. As said in their conversation, the two met at an orphanage. Of course, they weren't blood related, but they looked very, _very_ similar to each other. It creep both Alfred and Matthew out in a way, and it still does. They were the same age, but Matthew was born three days before Alfred. But, ever since they met, they were inseparable…and troublesome too. Partly the reason why they weren't still at the orphanage was because of their parents. They were trying to cross the road (how they got out of the building in the first place is a mystery), but were stopped by their _Papa_ and Dad.

"Yeah. Then there were times where you'd do my homework, and when we were separated and placed in different classes in grade 3, and you'd do my tests…Oh! And the times you would help me with my projects, because the teacher was being a bee-yotch and won't let me use your work!"

"Yeah, basically I did all of your school work while you played hooky."

"Dude, who even uses those words anymore?"

"I do. Then they had gym class…"

"What's funny was how people thought you were weak! Well, compare to me, you aren't as strong and heroic as me. But, man, you showed them in our first unit! I'm pretty sure we did something like floor or field hockey!"

"Oh, right. Too bad there wasn't any ice hockey…Oh! Remember the times you would insult Dad's cooking? And prefer _Papa's_?"

"Bro, every time we got in trouble, we'd _hide_ behind _Papa_. Dad would always have some kind of cooking utensils in hand, and we'd just hide." They continued to talk random moments, ending with fits of laughter.

"Those were the times…" Alfred said, a bit sadly.

"…Before that thing happened," Matthew whispered, finishing their sad statement. Silence fell upon them. Matthew heard the kettle blow, and he got up. "Do you want tea?"

"Naw. Can you get me a coke or something?" Matthew nodded, and went to the kitchen. There was more silence between them, and neither spoke for a while until Matthew tossed Alfred his pop and he sat back down with his tea.

"…It's been about four years, hasn't it?" Alfred asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Since what?" Matthew asked, knowing full well what he meant.

"You know what I mean."

"…Yeah, it has." It's been a little bit more than four years since the night of the fight and separation. Their parents were fighting over something, and it ended with Matthew, Alfred, and Arthur leaving the house. "Didn't it happen during the middle of August?"

"Yeah, it did. It was when we were ten. Now that we are fourteen, it would be four years." There was a small pause. "They're not legally-"

"No, they're not legally divorced. It's considered as a separation." Matthew sipped on his tea, before continuing. "I don't think they'd be planning for a divorce any time soon. It'd be too late and hectic."

"…Matt, I know I asked you this question before, but why'd you decide to live with _Papa_? We could have stayed together with-"

"I know. But, it's not like I'm not allowed to come here whenever I want. Technically, I still live with you guys."

"Yeah, but not all the time. You didn't _have_ to go."

"I chose to go. But, it doesn't really matter where I live, right? You can come over to my house whenever, and I can come here whenever. We don't live drastically far away."

"…" Alfred looked away, sipping on his coke.

"It still annoys you," Matthew said, reading his brother's thoughts. "The fact that they are still separated."

"…Yeah. Even after four years, I'm still not used to it. I don't like it at all. But, at least they didn't get a divorce. I'm betting neither of us would want Percy Jackson as our step-father."

"What, Dad and him are still together?" His father, Arthur Kirkland, has been on a little…dating spree. Not exactly a spree, but he seems to be looking for someone good. After three years of meeting people he has finally found someone. His name is Percy, and his last name is something neither Matthew nor Arthur can remember. His name is basically the root of his nickname, 'Percy Jackson'. He worked at a museum in the town, and had a strange fascination with Greek mythology and mythical creatures (hence, his nickname). The mythical creature's part of him scored brownie points with their Dad…unfortunately. There was nothing really bad with him…Alfred and Matthew just does not like him. At all. He had brown wavy hair, which goes down a little below his ears. He had sparkly blue eyes and perfect, sparkly teeth to match (which greatly annoys Alfred, because he's the only one who should have teeth that sparkle in the family). Their father and his boyfriend have been only dating for around six months now. For some reason, there is something that annoys them about Percy.

"That surprised me too, bro! Like, seriously dude. I don't even know why Dad would go out with him in the first place-Heck, why does he even stick with him?"

"Do you want my honest opinion? Maybe it's because he reminds him of _Papa_." Alfred looked at him questioningly. "C'mon, think about it Alfred! He has wavy hair and blue eyes."

"Um, dude. Hate to burst your bubble, bro, but _Papa_ would have an easier time getting a boyfriend and girlfriend. He's more attractive than Jackson can ever be."

"Alfred…That just makes it sounds like you've been checking Jackson out or something. And _Papa_." Alfred looked at Matthew, obviously disturbed.

"Dude, I would never do that. That's just sick, checking out your dad's boyfriend. It's even worse when you check out your dad." Matthew just laughed.

"Speaking of _Papa_," Alfred continued on. "Does he still drinks?"

"…Well, yeah. I haven't seen him doing so recently, but he still does."

"You've asked him to stop, haven't you? Can you tell him to try, at least? For me? It hurts me to think that he's drowning himself in some sort of beer or wine just because of-"

"I'll tell him." Matthew said, interrupting his brother for saying the final word. _Because of Dad_, Alfred was about to say. Before Matthew can continue on, the door to the apartment opened. Both the brothers look at the door at the same time, to see their Dad-Arthur- closing the door behind him with one hand, and have one hand on the phone.

"No, I can't go tonight." He said into the phone, obviously sounding like he was trying to control his temper. He was having a difficult time balancing the phone, the big bag of assignments and paper, and the keys at once. "Percy, really?" Alfred grinned in delight when he heard who his Dad was arguing with, and turned his full attention on.

"I told you, I'm tired. Today was the first day back to school, and I'm just tired. Can't we go another time? ...No? Well, why not? …You're busy during the whole week? What, do you think I'm not busy at all? Teaching teenagers is not an easy task…Well; I'm betting working at a museum is sure of an easier task then teaching…. What? Are you bloody serious? Do you really think that free-lancers can teach? Are you calling me someone who did not go to university or something? Someone who did not work their ass off to get their degrees? I was never a failure to begin with…No, I'm not calling you a failure, but you're calling me an uneducated person!" Matthew knew that the conversation was going to turn ugly, so he silently went into the kitchen to fix Arthur an Earl Grey tea. Alfred just cozied himself to enjoy the show.

"No. I'm not going tonight. Find something that you could do by yourself…Fine. Be that way. Not like I give a bloody damn. Good bye." Matthew heard Arthur swearing under his breath. "Alfred? What the bloody hell do you think you're doing with your shoes on? Take them off right now and put them in the front! And don't sit like that either!" Matthew peeked from the small doorway of the kitchen, and chuckled when he saw Alfred scrambling to take off his shoes. Arthur took notice of Matthew, and turned his attention to him.

"Oh, you're here M- ….." Arthur groaned irritably when he couldn't remember his name.

"Matthew." A sign of recognition and a face of apology took place in Arthur.

"I'm so sorry, Mattie. I'm just really tired and my head is not functioning well…"

"It's okay, Dad." Matthew whispered sweetly, before bringing out a cup. "Here."

"Oh, thank you love." Arthur sat down and took a sip. "How was your day, boys? I hope there were no problems at school. There were no fights, right?" Alfred and Matthew looked at each other. By using their 'telepathic powers', they gave each other looks that only they could decipher accurately.

_Should I tell him about what you did during lunch?_ Matthew said in his head.

_No! Don't even mention it! Dad would not like that! _Alfred replied, with his eyes wide open. _I'd be the one who gets punished!_

_ Exactly. It would teach you not to do that again!_

_ Mattie! Don't tell him, please! I'll be your best brother!_

_ You're my __**only**__ brother!_

_Yes, but still! Don't rat out on me!_

_ I'm not ratting out on you. I am simply going to answer Dad's question. It's basically a Yes or No answer._

_ Then don't say yes! Please?_ Matthew returned a stern glance. Alfred smiled awkwardly_ ...Pretty please? …Pretty, pretty please? …With ice-cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top? ...Two cherries on top? C'mon, who can deny the cherries? Everyone loves the cherries, dude!_

Arthur looked at both of them confusingly, before shrugging his shoulders at the random looks they were giving each other.

"Uh, what classes do you have this semester?" They both looked away from each other and looked at Arthur.

"I have Integrated Technology, Spanish, Physical Education with Mattie, and Science." Alfred said quickly, before Matthew can say anything.

"I have Business, French, Physical Education with Alfred unfortunately, and Math."

"Oh! You guys will be having English next semester! Maybe I would teach you boys next semester!" Arthur said happily. Matthew and Alfred looked at each other with horror. They had forgotten the fact that their father was the _English_ _teache_r at the school.

"I was just joking! The school wouldn't allow it. And anyway, I might be teaching Social Sciences and Family Studies. The cooking part." They both sighed in relief when they heard that. However, they weren't relief that Arthur will be teaching cooking.

Actually, their looks of extreme horror were still on their faces. They would like to avoid the wing that he'd be teaching at all costs…if Matthew actually knows where the wing is.


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all for continuing reading! Since this chapter has more French dialogue in it, I decided to just write the translations beside the French. This is an example of the format I mean: "Moi?** (_Me)?__**" **_**The translations will be in brackets. Hopefully this way is easier, since it'd be hectic for you readers to scroll all the way down for the translation.**

**And, sorry about this chapter. I planned on putting it up last week (and, I did), but it got messed up, so I had to correct and proof-read it...Well, that is no excuse into making you guys think I updated it last week (sorry about that)...Um, moving on...**

**Big thanks and credit goes to** _Minooshka_** for editing and helping me with the French dialogue! I'm grateful you're helping me ^_^ Hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Matthew shut the door to his house loudly. He does not expect anyone to be home…if there was anyone other than him and his _Père_. But, as he took off his shoes at the front, he noticed how his father's shoes were still there. He quickly checked the clock that was on the wall. It was nearly 8, and Francis should be at his work. Francis, who works as a bartender at the _Braginski's Bar_, always seems to be out of the house then. Either that or…

"Oh no…" Matthew muttered frustratingly, as he quietly made his way to the kitchen. There, he found Francis, sitting on the kitchen floor, his back laying on the wall, with a bottle of vodka beside him and a half-filled glass in one hand. He stared blankly at the bottom cupboards, looking like he was deep in thought, and continued to take big gulps. He then proceeded to mutter something in French, and then picked himself drunkenly, holding on to the counter to not lose his balance.

Matthew couldn't decide whether he wanted to take the initiative to call his father, or if he should shrug it off. He decided on the first, but he knew that it wouldn't be good if he did.

"_**Papa**__ (Dad)_?" Matthew said in a whisper. It took Francis a moment, until he turned to look at Matthew. Matthew couldn't really be for sure, but he was pretty sure his dad glared at him and didn't like the idea he was there.

"_**Mathieu**_," Francis slurred out, obviously signaling that he was nowhere near sober. "_**Qu'est-ce-que tu fais ici? Je pensais que tu allais rester chez Arthur ce soir . **__(What are you doing here? I thought you would be staying with Arthur tonight.)_"

"_**Papa, qu'est-ce-que t'a bu? **__(Dad, what did you drank?)_" Matthew asked, regretting he asked. Francis, in turn, cocked his eyebrows annoyingly, and turned his whole body towards Matthew.

Francis replied irritated, "_**Premièrement, répond à ma question. **__(First, answer my question.)_"

"_**T'a bu de la vodka, hein?**__ (You drank vodka, didn't you?)_" When Francis did not reply, Matthew's anger boiled up. "_**Tu m'as promis que tu ne consommerais pas plus d'alcool**_**.**_**Pour quoi-? **__(You promise me that you wouldn't consume anymore alcohol. Why-?)_"

"_**Tu n'as pas besoin pas de savoir que je fais, Mathieu**__. (You don't need to know what I do, Matthew.)_" Francis said.

"_**Je n'ai pas besoin de savoir? Papa, je suis ton fils! J'ai le droit de savoir qu'est-ce-que tu fais! (**__I don't need to know? Dad, I'm your son! I have the rights to know what you're doing!)_"

"_**Tu n'es pas en mesure de demander cette question.**__ (You are in no place to ask me that question.)_"

"_**Tu m'a menti. Tu m'as promis que- **__(You lied to me. You promised that-)_"

"_**Non, je t'ai rien promis. **__(No, I didn't promise you anything.)_"

"_**Menteur! Tu es un menteur ! T'es aussi un idiot ! Juste regarde toi! C'est dégoutant! **__(Liar! You are a liar! You're also an idiot! Just look at you! It's disgusting!)_" Matthew said, as he turned his back, and ran up to his room, slamming the door shut and locking it. For some odd reason, his anger turned into a few tears that he wiped off quickly.

"_Mathieu!"_ Francis yelled, through the door."_**Tu n'as pas le droit de me parler avec ce ton!Ouvre la porte, maintenant!**__ (You do not have the right to talk to me in that tone! Open the door, right now!)_"

"_**Non**_**,**" Matthew barely whispered, as he fell on top of his bed. He couldn't believe that he yelled back at his father. How could he call him a fool? He noticed a small patch of white fur coming out underneath his bed. He pulled the sheets up, and he looked at the creature underneath his bed. It was Kumajirou. Remembering that he brought some snacks from his Dad's house, he handed some cookies and treats to Kumajirou.

"Sorry Kuma…kichi? Yeah, sorry Kumakichi. I don't think it's a good idea to leave the room." The bear looked at Matthew for a moment before cocking his head sideways and letting out a growl of confusion, "Who?" Somehow, Matthew's polar bear was able to say words in human speech. It was some sort of miracle, really. However, the only thing it can say is_"Who?"_

"I'm Matthew," he replied solemnly, before picking up the bear and lying down on his bed. It was always the same damn thing.

It's the same routine every day. Alfred was right. Why should he stay with _Papa_? He can live with Alfred and Arthur anytime. Francis wouldn't care…would he? He's rarely at home, and if Matthew were to find him, he'd be fast asleep. He almost always drank before. It just recently that he rarely does. Today must be one of those days when he can't take it anymore and drowned his worries away with whatever alcohol he had. Matthew hated those days so much. He didn't like it at all, because of the change of character and tension in the house. Francis had promised Matthew that he'd try to stop. But, it looks like there was no way he'd stop at all. And then, after this episode, Francis would apologise, promise to not drink anymore…and continue to drink. Matthew doesn't know what to think anymore of the situation.

At moments like that, Matthew doesn't really know what to do. At times, he'd think about how shitty his life is, and if he's better off somewhere else. At moments like these, he might write down something, and throw out his anger to his writing and pen. But, in the end, he's just going to have to do what he usually does on nights like this.

"I'll just sleep then. Good night," he whispered to himself, closing his eyes and snuggling up with Kumajirou. Hopefully the night will be a good one.

* * *

The next day, Matthew decided to wake up earlier than usual. He quietly did whatever he needed to do, and peeked into his father's bedroom. He heard soft snoring coming from Francis' bed, and closed the door softly. Matthew then proceeded to go down the steps.

He made himself breakfast (the usual pancakes and maple syrup), and he gave some to the bear. As he ate, he can hear heavy footsteps coming from the floor above him, moving back at forth. After a good 20 minutes, those footsteps made their way down the stairs, into the kitchen. Matthew didn't bother to turn around while he was washing the dishes and pans, until he heard a voice:

"_**Bon matin**_**, **_**Mathieu**__ (Good morning, Matthew_,)" said the familiar French. Matthew turned around to face Francis. He didn't really look hung over from last night, but he had a hint of dark circles underneath his eyes. He, however, looked new and fresh, and he was surprisingly wearing a proper T-shirt instead of those with frills…it was the one with the faded words _**British Gentleman**_ in a cursive font on the front, with England's flag on the corner.

"_**Bon matin, **__(Good morning_,)"Matthew replied quietly. At least his dad was sober. "Should I make you anything to eat?"

"No, it's fine," his father replied tiredly, in barely a whisper, as he walked beside Matthew. He leaned his hand foreward. "**_Tu peux les vais les nettoyer_**_**.**__ (You can leave them. I'll clean them_.) " Matthew said nothing as he handed the sponge to Francis, who started to wash and dry the items in the sink. He didn't really like the idea of leaving his father with no food, and he still had time, so he just decided to make fry eggs or something.

As he made the extra breakfast, he noticed how many times Francis has glanced his way, as if he was trying to say something, but stopped mid-way. They both finished at roughly the same time, and as Francis placed the last item in the cupboard, Matthew placed the dish on the counter.

"_**C'est pour toi,**__ (It's for you,)_" Matthew said, pointing at the plate.

"_**Mathieu, tu n'as pas besoin de faire ça pour moi… **__(Matthew, you didn't have do that for me…)_"

"_**Mais, il y a rien de manger ici. C'est plus facile pour toi si j'en prépare. **__(But, there is nothing to eat here. It'd be easier for you if I just prepare it.)_" Francis walked up to Matthew in defeat, and raised his hand. He gently placed it on Matthew head, patting it.

"_**Tu es un bon enfant, Mathieu. Merci**_**, **(You are a good kid, Matthew. Thank you,)" Francis said, planting a kiss on Matthew's forehead. He then hugged him. Matthew felt wrapped with fuzzy warmth and…love. He loved that feeling he received from Francis. Matthew leaned into the hug, closing his eyes in content.

"_**Je m'excuse**_, _I'm sorry_" Francis whispered solemnly. "_**J'ai bu de la vodka hier soir, même qu'après j'ai t'a promis que je ne le ferais plus. Je n'étais pas moi-même. Je m'excuse, Mathieu, pour t'avoir crier hier soir et- **__(I drank alcohol last night, even after I promised you I wouldn't do it anymore, and I wasn't myself. I'm sorry, Matthew, for yelling at you last night, and-)_"

"_**Ne t'inquiète pas, Papa, **__(Don't worry, Dad,)_" Matthew said, breaking the hug a little bit, and smiling. "And…I'm sorry for yelling back at you and calling you a…fool. I didn't mean it. And I'm not mad at you or anything. It's just how it is when one drinks, I guess."

"I know…And I know I shouldn't have drunk." Francis said disappointingly. "I was just feeling depressed. I'm still feeling a bit depressed but…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "I promise I won't drink anymore."

"_**En premièrement, juste essaye d'arrêter**_, _**Papa**_**.** (_Just try to stop first, Dad_.)" Matthew said hopefully. "Please, just **try **slowly, if you have to. Don't make promises like that... Even Alfred wants you to try to stop."

"Of course I will try for both you **and** Alfred," Francis replied, placing another kiss on Matthew's forehead. "You boys are my world. I don't want you guys to be disappointed and leave me. _**Déjà une partie de mon monde est disparu**_**…** (_Already one part of my world has gone…)_" Francis decided to just stop there for the morning.

"You should probably be going now," Francis said. "Classes will start soon, and I remember that Alfred does not like to wake up early."

"Yeah," Matthew whispered, as he took his phone out and speed dialed his brother.

"I'll be working tonight. Have a good day at school."

"_**Oui**_," Matthew replied back at his father, as he grabbed his bag and made it to the front door.

It was always the same routine every day. Should Matthew really leave? _No_, Matthew thought to himself. _I need him and he needs me. Other than Alfred, I'm the only one that actually stays by him. I don't really want to change that…do I? …Why can't they just have two me?_

His thoughts were disturbed by swearing over the other line.


	8. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for reading! More characters will be introduced in this chapter (and the other chapters)! I feel the need to say, I'm slurring this out a bit, aren't I? I'm sorry if it's not developing as quickly . Anyway, I hope you readers enjoy this chapter! (Edit: Thank you SmileyFacesSmile for pointing out Sweden's last name for me!)**

Chapter 6

Both Matthew and Alfred entered the school grounds with 20 minutes to spare. Alfred dragged his feet tiredly; his backpack slung over one shoulder, and his glasses crooked.

"Dude, why do you have to wake me up so early?" Alfred said, followed by a yawn. The youth laid his back against the wall, letting his bag drop beside him. Matthew sighed at the sight of his brother.

"Alfred, your uniform is not on properly," Matthew said worryingly, placing his hands over Alfred's black tie to fix how crooked they were. Alfred just let out another yawn in response.

"But I'm tired," Alfred whined, closing his eyes as Matthew continued to straighten his tie and placing his glasses on right.

"You look like a hurricane attacked you, or something," Mathew replied a he brushed his brother's blonde strands in place.

"I don't look that bad, bro," Alfred muttered rubbing his eyes.

"What time did you sleep at? Don't tell me you were up all night on your Xbox or something…"

"What? It's not my fault that people are more active at night!" Alfred confessed, waving his arms in the air dramatically. He caught the look of seriousness on Matthew's face, before talking once again. "No, dude. I was not playing on the Xbox. I was just thinking about something…or _someone_." There was a hint of mystery in Alfred's eyes that made Matthew very curious all of a sudden.

"It's only the second day of school. Don't tell me you're desperate and already crushing on someone…"

"No, I'm not crushing on someone. I just find this person _very_ interesting…" Alfred said, putting on a stupid grin.

"…Very interesting to turn you on and leave you sleepless at night?"

"I don't think they turn me on just yet. I mean, they are very, _very _cute. I'm just not sure if I'm extremely interested in them to get them laid-."

"Well, I'm very sure that you need to control you're hormones there, pal," Matthew said with caution, patting Alfred's head. "Getting them 'laid'? Really, Alfred?"

"What's this I hear about getting someone laid?" said a loud random voice behind the brothers. They both turned around to find Feliciano smiling and waving at them. Behind him were both Ludwig and Kiku, who were both, turning pink at how Feliciano can throw that word so lightly. "Good morning to the both of you!" Alfred caught sight of Kiku quickly, and he blushed.

"K-Kiku!" Alfred managed to stutter out. "H-How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to hear that you are _very _interested in someone, Alfred-san," Kiku said, not looking at Alfred. He bit his bottom lip embarrassingly, brushing strands of his raven hair away from his eyes. "I couldn't have guessed that you were that type, Alfred-san…"

"I-I'm not that type!" Kiku gave this unsure look towards Alfred. "Honest!"

"Ve~ there is something like 'Don't judge a book by their cover'." Feliciano said in his usual cheery tone. "We can use that saying in this situation. Like how Kiku should not judge Alfred right away, since they just met yesterday. Right, Ludwig?"

"You can use it however you like, Feliciano. I'm not going to stop you." Ludwig just simply, seeming like he doesn't want to be there at the moment. He caught a quick look at Matthew, then seemed like he was about to say something. Until Feliciano interrupted.

"You know, Alfred, you're name reminds of this type of pasta sauce! It's called _Alfredo_! It's really good, especially with this pasta and that…" Feliciano kept rattling on and on about Alfredo pasta, while Alfred was trying to explain to Kiku that he wasn't some sort of closet pervert. Ludwig smacked his forehead at the foolishness that was going on around them. He then proceeded to speak with Matthew.

"You are…Matthew, yes? You have Math with Ms. Khemet during the last period of the day, right?" Ludwig asked.

"Yes," Matthew replied surprised at the question. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering." Ludwig paused for a moment. He looked like he was having a conflict with himself, whether he should add more or not. "Actually, I've been wondering if you are the same person Gilbert was speaking of."

"G-Gilbert?" Matthew shuddered at the sudden thought of the albino. What did he say about him? "What…did he say?"

"He just said how there was someone very interesting that sat beside him in his Math class." Ludwig said, shaking his head. "Foolish _Bruder_. He failed grade 9 math last year because he skipped that specific class."

"Why'd he do that?" Matthew asked curiously. He knew he wasn't in a place to ask that sort of question. But, it seemed like Ludwig didn't care who he said to.

"Honestly, I have no idea. He didn't tell my grandfather, do you think he'd tell me?" _Hm_, Matthew thought. _Well that's interesting in a way…_ There was a silence that befell them that made Matthew feel awkward. He was just there, while the others continued to rattle on and on about anything they wanted to.

"Hey, Alfred," Matthew said, tapping his brother's shoulder. "I think I'll be going to class now."

"Hm?" Alfred said, taking notice of Matthew. "Sure Matt. See you at lunch, maybe!"

"Yeah…" And with that, Matthew quickly made his way up the stairs to his Business class. Matthew couldn't help but feel like someone very tall was watching him from the corner of the hallway…

He ignored that feeling, however, and he finally made it to his Business class. The classroom was open at the time, so he just walked in. He only found his Business teacher, Ms. Mona, sitting at her desk and stapling a bunch of packages.

"Can I come in?" Matthew asked from the doorway, his voice quiet as usual. Amazingly, Ms. Mona actually was able to hear him.

"Oh? Matthew? Yes, of course you can come in," She said, taking only a small glance at Matthew before returning to her sheets of papers.

Matthew found it weird how she can still remember his name and not mistaken him for another. And, in all honesty, the more that Matthew looked at his teacher, she seemed familiar in a way.

He just shrugged his suspicion, and took a seat at a nearby chair.

* * *

"Maple!" Matthew whispered as he ran through the hallways, dodging through a few students who were also in a hurry to make it to their classes. He made a sharp turn, and continued to run until he made it to his Math classroom.

Taking deep breaths, he entered the classroom, to find that he came before the teacher did. _Yes!_ Matthew thought happily, as he realised that he was not late. But soon, his thoughts were replaced with a terrible realisation.

Once again, HE was there. He was right at the same spot as yesterday; the seat right beside the last window of the classroom. And once again, the only seat that was empty was the seat beside him. Matthew restrained himself from groaning out loud.

He really needs to learn to swallow his pride and change in front of the other guys. They started their first Gym Unit (it was badminton) and they are forced to change into different clothing for the class. Which, basically means, in the beginning and end of class, they are going to have to strip- er, change- in front of one another. Not that there is nothing to hide, just like their teacher, Mr. Lars, said.

They are all boys and they all have the same…_certain vital regions_…so there is really nothing to be embarrassed of. The real embarrassment happens when they get into the Sexual Education part, and their view on their teacher will dramatically change. And Matthew would most likely be more scarred than he already is. It's not his fault that his innocence didn't really last long thanks to Alfred and his _Papa_.

Matthew isn't the only one embarrassed. There is Kiku, who is even more embarrassed than him, and, while turning a lovely shade of crimson, tries to get into a bathroom stall to change saying "Western culture is so weird", or something of that sort. The only ones who don't give a shit if there are others around them would be Ludwig, Alfred, Carlos, a student from Sweden name Berwald Oxenstierna, and another student name Heracles Karpusi. One of the students, Im Yong Soo (apparently, he's Kiku's relative from South Korea) seems to enjoy the fact that they had to change in the same room.

The only reason Matthew is late is because he waited for a few people to leave…and then he changed. And then he made a run for it towards the third floor. It didn't really help that his muscles were sore from the laps.

Heaving his feet tiredly, he made his way towards the empty seat. Matthew quietly slipped into the seat, being cautious to not make any noise that will catch Gilbert's attention. Unfortunately, Gilbert already took notice of him.

"Well hello there, Birdie," Gilbert said with a grin.

"H-Hello," Matthew replied back taking deep breaths. "Birdie?"

"Well yeah. Birdie. I call everyone that. No point in arguing, it's officially your nickname," Gilbert confirmed. Matthew just nodded, still taking in breaths. It's really his fault for not keeping in shape during the summer vacation. All he really did was stay at home and curl up with a book. And if he did went outside (mostly with Alfred), he'd just stay on the side lines as Alfred played American foot-ball with other boys their age.

"You alright?" Gilbert asked curiously.

"Y-Yeah," Matthew replied. "Why?"

"What class did you have before this one?"

"Uh, Phys. Ed with Mr. Lars." Gilbert let out a low whistle.

"Mr. Lars is still teaching grade 9 Gym? Good luck, then."

"Good luck?"

"Yeah. You'll need. Mr. Lars is too intense when it comes to sports and training. I was in his class last year for Gym. I was able to handle it, thought, since I'm awesome. There is a reason why our school teams almost always wins many of the matches and competitions nationally. He's like some sort of military drill sergeant. No way will he be giving you guys breaks." Matthew let out a groan. He did not like the sound of that. _I'm going to be dead by the end of this week, then_, Matthew thought tiredly, laying his head on his desk.

"Everyone, please settle down," Said a loud, feminine voice over the students' chattering. They all turned towards the front to find their teacher, Ms. Khemet, tossing a piece of chalk up and quickly catching it. All seemed confused, except for Gilbert, who was unfazed by her sudden appearance.

"Thank you," Ms. Khemet said as all eyes were drawn to her. She continued on to taking a clipboard off of her desk. "Now, today we will be starting with our first unit. Please keep in mind that we'll only be spending one chapter of the unit per day, meaning that our unit test will be around every two weeks to three weeks. This school's education is hard and fast-paced, so study hard, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to come ask me for questions. I'll be taking the attendance now, so please take out your textbooks to page 12." As all the students took out their textbooks, she started to call out all the students' names.

"Natalia Arlovskaya?"

"Present," said a long, platinum hair, Belarusian-accented girl that sat two seats beside Matthew. She looked nice enough, but when she saw Matthew look at her, her eyes had a…creepy feeling to it.

"Gilbert Beilschmidst?"

"Here, Miss," Gilbert said, throwing one hand in the air. Ms. Khemet took note of that, and just nodded. As she went through the list, Matthew flipped through to the page they were supposed to be at.

He noticed how Gilbert has not even brought his textbook. Heck; he didn't even have a pencil or paper on his desk. All he really did was lean his head into his arms as Ms. Khemet started to write down notes on the board about the lessons.

After their little lesson, she assigned the entire class a bunch of pages to be completed within the remaining time they had in class, and to finish off as home-work. They will take it up the next day. All that time, Matthew couldn't help but wonder as to how Gilbert can remain so relaxed. Curiously, he tapped Gilbert on the shoulder lightly.

"Hmm?" Gilbert said, turning his head slightly, showing that he was in the midst of sleeping. He opened one eye tiredly, glaring at whoever woke him up. He snapped, "What?"

"Aren't you going to take notes or even do the work?" Matthew asked curiously. Gilbert just tsked, as he leaned back against his chair.

"No," he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "Why should I?"

"Why shouldn't you?" Matthew replied back, his left eye twitching irritably at the albino's lax behaviour. "It's good to practice." Gilbert just shrugged at Matthew's reply.

"So? You don't tell the awesome me what to do, Birdie," Gilbert said, placing his arms in his arms, preparing to fall back asleep again. "This shit is easy. I already know what the hell we're learning. Why don't you be a good boy, and study instead? I bet you'll need it."

"Yeah, we'll see after the unit test," Matthew muttered sharply, not caring about whether Gilbert heard him or not. Inside his head, he has killed Gilbert at least thrice. _How dare he act so obnoxious! _Matthew thought furiously, his grip on his pencil tightening and his writing turned darker by the force of the led. _Me? Be a good boy and study? Because __**I **__need it? How the hell did he even get into this school with more than a 95%, eh? What a lazy-ass! They say it's a miracle that Alfred got in! It's a miracle that this jack-ass got in! Wait, why should I care? It's not affecting me or anything. Oh no, it's not affecting me at all. I don't really give a damn at all. Yep, that's it. I don't care what he does._

As Matthew continued to torture his pencil by writing down the equations furiously, he could see from the corner of his eye that Gilbert was watching him. Not simply taking a glance from aside. He was literally, head side-ways, looking at him, with intense interest in his eyes. There was also a spark of amusement, which must have been because of how pissed off Matthew seemed. That just makes Matthew feel like flipping Gilbert's table, just so he can see how mad he was.

"Why would you care what I do, Birdie?" Gilbert finally said, as he continues to stare at Matthew.

"Who said I cared?" Matthew replied back, annoyed. Gilbert's expression seemed to slightly change into something Matthew couldn't make out.

"You don't?" Gilbert asked.

"No. Why should I?" Matthew said, miserably failing to copy Gilbert's voice. Gilbert narrowed his eyes at Matthew's fail imitation, and just returned to his sleep.

The bell ring, signaling the end of class and the day. Matthew once again did a quick exit out the classroom. That was the end of it. Hopefully, the next day would be decent.

Matthew quickly made his way to his locker, to find Ravis at his locker. He was shaking a bit (but, then again, he always did), and sort of smiled when he saw Matthew. But, as soon as he did, he kind of cringed when he saw something past Matthew.

Matthew turned around, following Ravis' gaze, which led to the other end of the hallway. He didn't see anything, except he could have sworn he so a scarf flutter away. He couldn't help but feel like someone very tall was watching him from the corner of the hallway…


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nearly two and a half weeks have passed since the beginning of the school year. The teachers were right about how fast-paced the school's education was. Already tests and quizzes have been handed out.

In Business, Matthew was in the process learning about the exterior and interior hardware and software of the computer. For French, M. Nzié was already assigning book and news reports, and they were reviewing all the tenses.

Unfortunately, Gilbert was right about Mr. Lars. He must have been a drill sergeant in the military before becoming a teacher. Their daily warm-ups consisted of 13 laps around the indoor 400 meters track, then stretches. By the end of their little jog around the track, most would be gasping for air, lying flat on the ground dead. Usually, you'll find Matthew taking up the back of the line. Matthew would prefer to stay behind and take his time, while Alfred and Heracles would lead the line around the track. It wasn't that bad taking his time. Actually, he is usually accompanied by Kiku, Yong Soo, Tino Väinämöinen, an exchange student from Finland, and Emile Steilsson, another exchange student from Iceland. Soon after their warm-ups, they would soon split up into pairs. Their first Unit was Badminton, and they did a sort of tournament. Unfortunately, they used the indoor gym; while the Grade 9 girl's Phys. Ed class took place outside. Alfred joined "forces" with Matthew. They came out 2nd out of all the class, and could have come out 1st if it weren't for Ludwig and Feliciano. It really wasn't fair, since Ludwig did all the work while Feliciano would run and duck from the incoming birdie. They finished their first unit on a Thursday.

Matthew actually loves his gym class. He found the students very interesting, and he would spend most of his time with them; before classes started, during lunch, and even after school. Their little group consisted most of the time: Alfred, Carlos, Kiku, Ludwig, Feliciano, Heracles, and Matthew himself. Most of the times, Im Yong, Tino, Berwald, and Emile may join them. Although, they were quite a…_wild_…group and they would get weird looks from other students in the cafeteria. They'd mostly spend lunch in the deserted hallways on the fifth floor, since no one actually has the time to walk up the stairs. Some reasons that they'd get the weird look is because: Carlos would mistake Matthew for Alfred, and may pick a fight with him; Yong Soo seems to enjoy other's hips and chests, and may slip his hands around Kiku specifically, earning a glare from both Alfred and Heracles; the stoic looking Berwald would seem to be _glaring_ at everyone, but that didn't really disturb Tino…and it seems like Berwald has a soft spot for Tino; Feliciano would start to annoy Ludwig to help him with last-minute homework, which Ludwig would have to give in to; stray _cats_ would surround Heracles; etc.

Basically, during the two weeks, everything was completely alright. There seemed to have no serious trouble. Although, it annoyed Matthew and Alfred quite greatly how the other students view them.

Most of the students in the school knew that the strict English teacher, Mr. Kirkland, had two sons who would be attending the Academy starting that year (not only the English teacher, but also the Greek and Arts teacher had a son attending, and apparently Matthew's math teacher had one too). However, none of the students actually knew who those two were, since both Alfred and Matthew have kept their surname from the orphanage. One lunch, thought, Arthur had happened to see the boys in the hallways. Instead of waiting until after-school, he walked right up to them –while their friends were around- and asked them if they needed a ride home after classes were finished. Of course, they accepted their Dad's offer. And of course, their friends were curious about how they knew the English teacher (Ludwig didn't seemed surprised, as if he already somehow knew that). From that day forth, word spread out quickly like wildfire, and some of the students in the hallway would try to avoid them. Actually, they may even feel the need to pick a fight with Alfred, since they completely ignored the existence of Matthew. And if they did acknowledge Matthew, they'd mistaken him for Alfred…sadly.

While one still has the fact that their first unit in gym class finished on a Thursday, Matthew actually had his first math unit test on Thursday, too. He found this math unit easy, and he personally had high hopes that he'd pass it with flying colours. Mostly, he really wants to rub it into that hoser, Gilbert, and show him who really needs to study and pay attention.

It was the next day after the unit test. Matthew actually was able to change in front of the others after their gym class ended. But, he was still bashful, and went into a corner to change, trying his best not to turn red in embarrassment. He actually made it in his math class before most students did.

But, as always, Gilbert was right there, in the same spot. Matthew smirked at the sight of his favourite classmate. It was a shame that the students weren't allowed to change their seats from now on. The teacher said that the seating at the moment was fine, and that they'd have to stay there for a long time. Matthew didn't mind Gilbert much anymore. He actually enjoys his company very much, spending some time to chat with him. He had no intentions, however, of knowing Gilbert any more than a mere classmate/acquaintance. Although, it seemed like Gilbert intended on befriending Matthew.

Walking through the rows of desks, Matthew walked up to the empty seat beside the albino, ignoring the stares he received from some of the few students already in the room.

As he arrived to his seat, Matthew tried his best to not laugh out loud. Gilbert had both his headphones on, with the Metal music playing loud enough for Matthew to hear it from a far off distance. He was nodding his head, tapping one foot to the beat of the music, and using the desk as the drums. He was singing the lyrics quietly, but it looked more like he was muttering some incantation spells.

Matthew slipped onto to his chair, opening his bag to take out his textbook and notebook. He found it hilarious that Gilbert did not know he was ridiculing himself. Playfully, Matthew slowly took out one earphone…then the other. By the time Matthew had pulled out the second earphone, Gilbert had already noticed the lack of music coming from one ear. He opened both his crimson coloured eyes quickly, and turned around towards Matthew. A smiled played over his lips as he snatched the earphone out of Matthew's hand, and he faked being pissed off.

"Well _excuse me_, Matthew, but I'm trying to listen to educational music," Gilbert said with attitude.

"Right. Nice "educational music", Gilbert," Matthew said chuckling. "You're going to go deaf if you listen to it that loud."

"Yeah. It's the new Classical. And I'm too awesome to go deaf, Birdie."

"Mhm," Matthew responded, diverting his attention away from the grade ten and took out a novel out of his bag. He was in the middle of one of the chapters, and he wanted to desperately know how it ends.

"Hey Birdie, what ya reading?" Gilbert asked curiously, leaning in. "Oh! Is it that psychopathic horror, huh? With the mad serial killer and all that mushy, gory stuff?"

"N-No," Matthew said bashfully at the thought of the genre. "It's actually a mystery and…romance…novel…"

"Oh! _That_ mushy stuff! You're into those things?" Gilbert saw Matthew slowly turning pink before announcing out loud, "Awww! Birdie's all embarrassed that he likes lovey-dovey things! He's all red too! Kesesese-" Gilbert was quickly cut short by Matthew. It was a good thing the book was a hard-cover.

The teacher came waltzing into the room happily with a thick stack of papers in her hand. Gilbert had his head on his desk, and he was rubbing his head in pain. Matthew continued on reading as if nothing ever happened.

"Hel-lo students!" Ms. Khemet said, and immediately all the students dispersed and returned to their assigned seats. Ms. Khemet smirked satisfied, before brushing a few strands of her raven bangs out of her eyes and held up the sheets of paper. She leaned against the blackboard. "Right here in my hand is a lovely stack of paper with marks on them. And guess what? They're the test from yesterday!"

Suddenly, the room became tense. It was very suspicious of Ms. Khemet to be smiling that way towards them. It could be because of the two following reasons: 1) Most of the students did terrible on the test, and their teacher was trying to seem calm when she's actually angry, or 2) Most of the students have actually aced it, and she was truly proud. But, let's all be real for a moment, and say it's most probably the first reason.

"Don't worry," Ms. Khemet said with a laugh, reading everyone's thought. "None of you failed, nor did most of you receive a low mark. Although, some people really do need to study. You all do know that 70% of your final mark is from your term work, right? Everything counts for the big picture."

"I'll be giving them out now," she said as she took a seat on her chair, pulling herself close to her desk. "There is no real order. Just come up when you hear your name."

"Lillian Zwingli?" Immediately, an elegant-looking girl got up from her chair. She had pale blonde hair that was short and went up to her chin, and a purple ribbon tied on a few strands. Straightening her red plait skirt, she made her way to the front. Matthew couldn't remember, but he was pretty sure that she was from either Switzerland or Liechtenstein.

As the teacher kept calling name, everyone started to take out their textbooks and such. Matthew just watched everyone from afar, but his eyes were soon drawn to Gilbert. As always, Gilbert had not even taken out anything, and instead has placed his head into his arms, prepared to take a nap.

"Matthew Williams?" Matthew jolted in surprise at the sound of his name being called, but did not hesitate to make his way to the front. He was greeted by a smile.

"Excellent job, Matthew," Ms. Khemet said, handing him his papers. He scored a 95%. "You could have gotten 100% if not for the careless mistakes. Please, be careful next time, alright? Other than that, keep up your marks that way."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Matthew smiled sheepishly, as he went to his seat. _I'd like to see you beat that, Gilbert!_ He thought smugly as he sat on his chair, even though he knew he sounded like a total ass.

"…Beilschmidt." Gilbert looked up lazily, cocking his head side-ways. Rolling his eyes, he got off his seat and started to walk towards the front. From where Matthew could see, Ms. Khemet did not seem to have a hint of happiness. She handed the paper to Gilbert, giving him a moment to view his mark, and then started to speak with him. She seemed dead serious, but Gilbert just shrugged and returned to his seat. He stuffed the paper into his bag, before returning to his nap.

Matthew didn't feel the need to ask what Gilbert is. It would make him seem more of a jack-ass than Gilbert was. He, instead, focused his attention at the front, finding an interesting spot to examine on the black board.

* * *

The final bell of the day shrieked through the speakers, signaling all the students that it was the end of their final class of the day, and they would now be entering the week-end. The hallways immediately were filled with students who made a run out of their classrooms, and were going straight to the dorms to change out of their uniforms. Even though the students living in the dorms had a curfew of 8, most don't even listen to that rule (it's not like Mr. Roma minds) and some would go out with friends or to some party.

Matthew had decided to take his time this time, and was the only one left once the bell rang. Gilbert was about to make a dash out the door along with the others, but was quickly stopped by Ms. Khemet.

"Gilbert," she said sternly, using a single arm to block the door, stopping Gilbert immediately. "We need to talk, remember?"

Leading him to the front of the class, Ms. Khemet took a seat on her chair, leaving Gilbert to stand. Matthew was still there, but it seemed like the teacher did not take notice. She started to talk in a low voice towards Gilbert. She sounded like she was not joking, and was dead serious. From where Matthew was, he couldn't hear much. He wasn't eavesdropping! He's just…listening attentively and it's good to listen…okay, he admits he's eavesdropping. But, the only things he actually heard were "should have done better" and "don't repeat this once more".

Matthew packed all his things, and was about to walk out the door towards his locker, but he too was stopped by Ms. Khemet.

"Excuse me, Matthew?" She called from her spot, catching Matthew's attention. "Can you can come here, please? It's only going to take a few minutes." Matthew obediently walked towards his teacher, glaring at Gilbert when he groaned.

"Y-Yes, Miss?" Matthew whispered kindly.

"Matthew, are you alright with teaching others?" Teaching others? Well, Matthew was never the one most people would ask for help, since most would forget his existence, but he does help and teach Alfred a lot when he doesn't want help from either of their dads.

"Yes, I-I'm alright with that," Matthew said, curious at where this would lead.

"Good," Ms. Khemet said satisfied at his response, and placed her chin on her folded hands. "Gilbert, this test was not a good way to start off the year. At this rate, it's going to be the same thing from last year and I don't want you to retake this course. So, I'm going to be helping you out. Matthew will be your tutor for the remaining time of this course."

"What?" Both of the youths said at the same time, both equally surprised.

"Matthew is going to tutor you from now on. Also, I'm giving another chance. On Monday, you're going to retake the test. I'm giving this whole week-end to study with Matthew. You don't mind, do you Matthew?" Matthew just stared at her aghast. Him tutor…Gilbert? _Gilbert_ of all people? No ma'am. He doesn't want to meet up with Gilbert outside of school. It's already bad enough that he has to sit beside him in school.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Gilbert said, slamming his hands on her desk, catching both of their attentions. "Miss, you can't do that!"

"I wasn't asking if you minded, Gilbert. I was asking Matthew. Well?" Ms. Khemet continued to stare at Matthew, who sure of a hell did not want to do it. But, he didn't want to sound rude towards the teacher…

"…No, I don't mind," Matthew whispered flatly. He could hear Gilbert let out another groan while Ms. Khemet just smiled.

"Good. Now, is it alright if-"

"Hold on, Miss," Gilbert interrupted. "Why does **he** have to tutor me? Couldn't you have gotten someone else?"

"What's wrong with **me**?" Matthew asked, offended.

"No offense, Matthew, but you're one year _younger_ than me. Do you know what people would think of me as? They'd think I'm some dumb-ass-"

"Gilbert! Watch your mouth," Ms. Khemet warned.

"Sorry, Miss. But, still! And, why do I have to retake the test again?"

"I'm just trying to help you! It doesn't matter what you say, you **will** get a better mark and you **will** study over the weekend, even if I have to force you to be tutored by someone younger than you. I can easily ask permission from your grand-father and Mr. Kirkland."

"Bushy-Brows?" Gilbert said confused. "What does he have to do with either of us?"

"Bushy-Brows?" Matthew whispered interested to know that's what his father is called amongst the students.

"Mr. Kirkland," Ms. Khemet said seriously. "Is Matthew's father." Gilbert looked at the teacher with wide eyes, before looking at Matthew. He looked like he was confused and couldn't believe what he had heard.

"You're his son?!" Gilbert cried, pointing a finger accusingly at Matthew.

"Wow, you're late," Matthew whispered, irritated at his action.

"B-But, how is that even possible?" Gilbert said, still not believing this. "I mean, he has such bushy eyebrows and punk hair, and he looks ridiculous, but you have wavy hair and you have violet eyes, and you're cute an-" Gilbert stopped himself mid-way as he realised what he came to say. He immediately covered his mouth, looking away from Matthew. Matthew tried to restrain it, but his face started to heat up immensely and he turned away too. Ms. Khemet seemed to have this mysterious look on her face, like she was starting to like her idea after all.

"Good, then it seems like it's settled. You two can meet in the library tomorrow, then. You are both dismissed."

Matthew immediately ran outside, making his way quickly towards his locker. His face was still hot, and he had a hard time removing the blush. He kept on repeating what he had heard in class. _He thinks I'm… cute?_ He had heard Gilbert call him a cutie before, but it still makes him flush red whenever he does. He doesn't actually take him seriously, but recently the thought of Gilbert saying that meant something. But, why is it whenever he says that? Well, the more Matthew thinks about it, Gilbert is a very hot guy…and he seems _kissable_.

_Nooooooo!_ Matthew thought dramatically, falling into a deep, dark pit of despair. There was no he was falling for that guy! Nope. He would never like a guy like that! But then again, he's doesn't seem that bad…

"Why me?" Matthew whimpered sadly, as he opened his locker to get his books. Ravis was beside him at the moment too, trying his best to reach the top shelf to get his textbook.

"Hi, Ravis," Matthew said, trying to ignore the fact he'll be spending time with his least favourite person. Ravis tensed up, but relaxed when he saw it was only Matthew.

"H-Hello, Matthew!" He said with a smile. "U-Um, you seem stressed. Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm just…peachy," Matthew said with a quick twitch of his nose at the thought of Gilbert. He heaved his bag over his shoulders. "Well, I'll be going now. Bye."

"I'll see you on Monday, then. Have a good weekend."

"Thanks. Same." _I wish_, Matthew thought. He was about to walk, but noticed how Ravis was looking terrified at something-or someone- behind Matthew.

"Hello, Ravis!" Said a cheery, Russian-accented voice that made Matthew freeze at how close the voice was. He turned around slowly.

He was facing a very tall and bulky boy. The boy had silvery-white hair, and he was smiling. His eyes were nearly closed, so Matthew couldn't really tell the colour of his eyes, or who he was looking at. Even thought it was still September and they were indoors, he was wearing a long tan-coloured scarf. Not only that, but he was wearing a tan jacket.

"H-h-h-hel-lo!" Ravis said frighteningly, shaking timidly. The boy just laughed, and walked passed Matthew. He placed a huge hand on top of Ravis' golden hair, and seemed to be pushing him down.

"Why are you shaking so much? Ha!" The boy took notice of Matthew, and quickly turned his attention to Matthew.

"Aren't you Matthew?" Matthew was taken by surprised that someone knew who he was and not mistaken him for Alfred, but had an eerie feeling. Something about the smile didn't make him seem nice at all.

"Yes…um, may I know who you are?"

"Of course. I am Ivan Braginski!" The boy said happily, leaning towards Matthew. "Aren't you Francis Bonnefoy's kid? And also that English teacher's?" Matthew stood there, still surprised, but more shocked. How did he know his _Papa_? But, his last name sounded familiar…

"Braginski? Don't they own a bar?"

"Well, club-bar. Either one works, but you would always get vodka! But, _da_. My family owns that bar! My sister, Katyusha, helps out there and she knows you're father. She also works here as a teacher, too."

"I see…" Matthew said, knowing about Katyusha. She was close to both his parents, but he rarely hears from Francis about her nowadays. He was about to leave, since this conversation was leading nowhere and he was feeling uncomfortable around Ivan, but he was quickly stopped.

"Hey, Ivan! What are you doing with Matthew?" Matthew twitched irritably at the sound of 'Mr. Awesome'. He wanted to wait tomorrow to listen to that annoying voice. However, he couldn't help but feel relieved. Gilbert walked up and stood right beside Matthew, and glared directly at Ivan suspiciously. The look in his eyes was something Matthew has never seen and expected Gilbert to ever have.

"I'm just talking with Matthew and asking him a question." Ivan said the tone his voice slightly changing, but his smile was still plastered on his face. He, however, did open his eyes a bit, revealing a pair of cold, dull purplish eyes.

"Bullshit. What were you really doing?" Something about how Gilbert directed those words made it sound like Ivan was trying to do something inappropriate to Matthew.

"Is there something wrong with me talking to him?"

"No." Gilbert took a step forward and crossed his arms. The height difference was obvious, but Gilbert didn't back down. "Actually, yeah. I think it's in your best interest not to talk to Matthew ever again."

"That did not answer my question, Beilschmidt. I asked you 'Is there something wrong with me talking to him'. Not 'what do you think is best for me?'"

"No, but at least it's an answer, right, Braginski?" Gilbert grabbed on to Matthew's arm, and started to drag him away. "Let's go, Birdie."

Matthew did not try escaping his grasp, and allowed himself to follow the elder's lead as they went down the staircase. But, as soon as they reached the foyer, he felt slightly uncomfortable at some people who were staring at them.

"Let go," Matthew whispered, his voice cracking a bit.

"What was it, Matthew?" Gilbert asked, coming to a halt.

"U-Uh, you can let go of me now, Gilbert." Matthew replied softly. Gilbert didn't seem to have noticed that he was still holding on, and he quickly let go. He blushed slightly, looking away as he rubbed his neck.

"S-Sorry," Gilbert muttered bashfully, but Matthew didn't understand why.

"Is there something that you needed?"

"Hm? Oh, right! I just wanted to make sure of something. We're going to meet up tomorrow in the school library, right? What time are you free?"

"Um, what time does it open?"

"The librarians would be there by 9, but students are allowed there earlier. It's not like they actually lock the place."

"Then, I'll just meet you there at 9," Matthew confirmed. Gilbert nodded in agreement.

"Cool. I'll see you then." He was about to walk away, but he seemed to have remember something.

"Right," Gilbert said with a snap of his fingers. "Hey, Birdie? I want you to stay away from Ivan."

"W-Why?" Matthew asked, surprised at the order.

"He's in Grade 12. Of course he'll prey on the freshies. Listen, that guy is not good news. At all. Just…try to avoid him."

"Um, alright then," Matthew replied.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Birdie!" Gilbert said with a smile, ruffling Matthew's strawberry-blonde playfully before running off somewhere.

Matthew blew a strand back into place, as he watched the albino disappear behind a set of doors. Suddenly, he felt an arm slung around his shoulder.

"Heyo, Mattie! Sorry for coming late! I was talking with Kiku, and then we helped our Technology teacher, Ms. Pham*, with this shit-loads of paper she was carrying."

"I see…" Matthew said flatly, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. Alfred took note of that very quickly.

"Bro, you sound so dead! Did the classes suck the life out of you or something? By the way..." Alfred dropped to whisper, glancing at the set of doors Gilbert disappeared behind. "What were you doing with **him**?"

"Who?"

"Now you're starting to sound like your polar bear. I was talking about that creepy albino…"

"Gilbert."

"Yeah, him."

"His name is Gilbert, Alfred. And we were just talking about meeting up tomorrow." Alfred looked at his brother with sheer horror in his eyes.

"What!" Alfred said, suiting his words with an over-dramatic motion that you'd see in an anime.

"Alfred, I'm just going to tutor him for math…"

"WHAT! WHY?" Alfred said, shaking Matthew. "Are you crazy, Mattie?"

"I didn't really have a choice…" _Yes you did,_ Matthew told himself. _You just accepted it_. "I mean, I did, but my teacher asked me, so I didn't want to sound rude…"

"Matthew! Why would you do that?"

"Calm down. It's not like it's a date or anything. I'm just going to meet up with him in the school's library." Alfred still looked at him with horror. "We're not going to some dark alley-way."

"I refuse to let this happen!" Alfred said, starting to walk out the front doors. Matthew quickly followed behind him.

"Al, stop it. You're sounding like an overprotective father or something…"

"Hey, I'm just being the caring brother I am." Alfred said dramatically. "Someone has to look out for you, with the fathers we have."

"Shut up, Alfred," Matthew said, not liking how this was going.

"What? It's true, Matthew! We have Dad who is frolicking with that loser boyfriend of his all the time. He even forgot your name, remember!"

"That was only once, and he was tired." Matthew said defensively.

"Whatever you say. And then, we have _Papa_ who is an alcoholic and workaholic and barely talks to us."

Matthew did not respond to his brother's words. It's true that their relationship with their fathers have strained over the years. More specifically, during the last four years. They really only had each other to talk to most of the times. Matthew rarely ever sees Francis since he would be sleeping during the day and sleeping during the night. But, ever since the last time Francis was caught drinking, he hasn't been seen with a bottle ever since. It seemed that he truly was trying to quit for both Matthew's and Alfred's sake. As for Arthur, well, they do see him. But, it seems he'd be talking on the phone with his boyfriend, going out with him, correcting some assignments or preparing more work for his classes. It was like he was slowly cutting any connection with them over the course of the four years, and moving on.

Matthew remained quiet, and after a few minutes, Alfred could tell that he had made it awkward for the both of them. So instead, he started to ramble on about something hilarious that happened during Science class, and soon things where running a tad bit normally. Although, the thought of tomorrow's would-be events slowly crept into Matthew's mind.

* * *

***Ms. Pham (****_Vietnam)_**

**A/N: I was about to upload this earlier (like, last week or before), but the most terrible thing happened...I deleted all the word files by accident DX It was terrible! I soon went into a dark place for a while, since the first copy of this chapter was so good, and now I had to re-write this chapter...meh. There is nothing else to say about it. What's done is done. I'm just glad that this re-write turned out okay.**

** Anyway, I'm just going to move on to a different topic. I would like to give a special thanks to...well...everyone! I'm grateful that people are following, favoriting, reviewing, and reading this story! Thank you so much :D! It always makes me happy, and whenever I see people do that, it always brings a big smile to my face!**

** I'll try my best to write and upload the next chapter as soon as I can! Thank you guys once again! I hope you guys will continue to read this story!**


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, so a two things to cover(sorry for this author's note):  
1) For those who are probably wondering where in the world this story takes place, then…it takes place somewhere in Canada :D Since in this chapter, Matthew basically says this...  
2) Uh, updating the other chapters may take longer than expected, since it's already May and I have a lot of school work to do. Plus, exams are coming up for me, so the next chapter may or may not take a while to be uploaded ^_^! **

** Again, sorry for this sudden author's note everyone! Please, continue on reading this chapter, and I hope you enjoy! And, please forgive me for my fail French once again. (Oh, and for those who reviewed previously, I'd like to thank you for that! And also for those who read and follow this story! Thank you!)**

Chapter 8

_BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP- BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP- BEEP-BEEP…_

He slammed his fist hard on the object that started making that irritating noise, and soon heard a small _crack_ from the alarm clock. Satisfied at the silence that befell, Matthew's arm quickly made a retreat back into his cocoon of light sheets he was curled up in, groaning annoyingly at how early it must be. Trying his best to keep at least one of his eyes open, he tried his best to read the time through his blurry vision. The red light bear the numbers _7:00_ _A.M._ He then did his best to reach for his cell phone, yanking it from the charger. Checking the date, he found out that it was a …Saturday…

_It's a fucking Saturday!_ Matthew thought furiously, tossing his phone back on the nightstand before curling up in a ball. He shut his eyes tightly and furrowed his eyebrows together. _Why the hell is the alarm clock set this early? Do I have something important to do?_

After a minute of lying still in a ball form, Matthew finally remembered what he had to do. _Maple,_ Matthew groaned irritably. He was supposed to meet up with that idiot Gilbert that day. He was supposed to be at the library by 9. _Why did the night have to be so short?_

Forcing himself to get up, he was only able to sit up on his legs. He curved his back a bit, stretching one arm up while using one hand to rub his tired eyes, letting a small yawn. He stayed like that for a moment, trying to make his eyes open properly and adjust. Matthew gave up quickly, and fell to his back. His head landed on something soft and furry.

Craning his neck, he found out that it was Kumajirou. The polar bear seemed to have also just woken up, but was going to fall back asleep at any moment.

"Me don't wanna go, Kumajiku," Matthew whined childishly, wrapping his arms around Kumajirou as he placed his hand on top of the bear's white fur. The bear took his right paw, and patting Matthew's cheek with it.

"Whoo?" Kumajirou said tiredly before closing his eyes.

"I'm Matthew…" Matthew managed to mutter tiredly, closing his eyes for a minute. He felt like he was about to drift off to another dream before he heard a loud bang of a pan hitting the floor coming from the kitchen. This caused Matthew quickly jolt up in surprise and suspicion. He tried his best not to make any noises as he quietly made his way to the staircases. Matthew leaned over the wooden railing, trying his best to listen to what may be going on downstairs.

"_Merde _(Shit)," Matthew heard a familiar voice grumble. He sighed in relief when he heard only Francis. Now that he was already out of bed, he may as well get ready.

Matthew made his way to the bathroom to clean himself, and took his time getting ready (he just felt like being an ass that morning by trying to come late). He slipped into a pair of jeans and a simple, red shirt, taking his time in brushing his blonde strands in place. He quickly took his school bag, and started to make his way down the stairs.

When Matthew walked in, he found Francis making some breakfast for two. _Well this is a special occasion_;Matthew thought when he walked in. Francis turned around to see who had just entered, and smiled warmly when he saw it was only Matthew.

"_Ah, Mathieu!(_Ah, Matthew !)" Francis said, but then he put on this confused look. "_Pourquoi t'es réveillé? L'heure maintenant est 7:45, et c'est aussi samedi. C'est rare de te voir réveillé durant le matin à cette heure. _(Why are you awake? The time right now is 7:45, and it's also Saturday. It's rare to see you awake in the morning at this time.)"

"_Papa,_" Matthew replied, walking up to the counter._ Good morning to you too. I have to ask you that question. _"_Je juste dois rencontrer avec quel qu'un de l'école à la bibliothèque. _(I just have to meet up with someone from school at the library.)"

"_Une amie? _(A friend?)" Francis asked, putting on an omelette on a plate. Matthew took the plate and sat down at the dining table. He paused to think. Was Gilbert really considered his 9+6friend now? Or, was he more of an acquaintance? Matthew pondered about this for a while, before replying.

"_Oui,_" Matthew said as he took his fork and started eating. The pause that he took must have made Francis suspicious, because he had this mysterious look on his face and a smirk.

"_Ah. C'est juste __**une amie**__, oui? _(Ah. It's just a friend, yes?)" Matthew looked at his father suspiciously at how he emphasised 'a friend'.

"_Oui_," he said once more. Francis just nodded, and it took a minute before Matthew understood what his father was thinking.

"_Je n'ai pas une blonde, Papa. _(I don't have a girlfriend, Papa.)_" _Matthew said quickly, drinking some orange juice out of a cup. Francis just chuckled.

"_Je n'ai pas dit ça, _(I never said that.)" Francis replied, taking a fork and leaned one arm against the counter.

"_Non, mais t'as pensé de ça. _(No, but you were thinking it.)_"_ Matthew muttered.

"_T'es sûre ? _(You sure?)_"_

_ "Papa, je rencontre avec __**Gilbert**__. Il est un __**garçon**__. _(Papa, I'm meeting up with **Gilbert**. He's a boy.)_"_ Francis looked at him confused for a minute, before finally understanding.

_ "Oh, je comprends! Il s'appelle Gilbert, hein? _(Oh, I understand! His name is Gilbert, huh?)_"_

_ "Non, Papa ! Il est juste un ami _! (No, Papa! He's just a friend!)_"_

_ "Tu dis ça comme tu n'es pas sûre si vous êtes 'juste amis', _(You say it like you aren't sure if you guys are 'just friends',)_"_ Francis said in a sing-song way.

_ "Papa !" _Matthew cried, slightly blushing. Francis laughed at his son's reaction.

_ "D'accord, d'accord. Je juste blague avec toi, Mathieu. Ne le prend pas au sérieuse. _(Alright, alright. I was just joking with you, Matthew. Don't take it seriously.)_" _

_"Ce n'est pas drôle. _(It's not funny.)_"_

_"Quelles classes partagez-vous ? _(What classes do you guys share?)_"_

_ "Gilbert est dans la 10__ième__année. Il est dans ma classe de math. _(Gilbert is in the 10th grade. He's in my math class.)_"_ Francis looked at Matthew with weird look, and raised one of his eyebrows.

_"Qu'est qu'il fait dans ta classe de 9__ième__ année ? _(What's he doing in a grade 9 class?)_"_

_"Je ne sais pas. Il doit encore refaire la course parce qu'il n'a pas reçu un bon note, ou quelque chose comme ça. _(I don't know. He has to redo the course again because he didn't get a good mark, or something like that.)_" _

_ "Hm, vraiment ? _(Hm, really?)_" _

_"Ouais. Je dois l'enseigner parce qu'il a recu mauvais note sur notre dernière teste. _(Yeah. I have to teach him because he got a bad mark on our last test.)_" _Francis looked at Matthew curiously, not knowing what test his son was talking about. Matthew bit his bottom lips. He had forgotten to even inform his father about it.

_ "Qu'est-ce que t'as réussi? _(What did you get ?)_"_

_ "…Un 97%. _(A 97%)_"_

_ "Ah, oui?"_ Francis broke into another warm smile._"C'est excellent, Mathieu! Bon travail! _(That's excellent, Matthew! Good work!)_"_

_ "Merçi, Papa, _(Thanks, Papa,)_"_ Matthew replied bashfully. There was a small pause between them.

_"Qu'est-ce qu'Alfred fait à l'école? Est-ce qu'il fait tous ces travailles d'école? _(What does Alfred do at school? Does he do his school work?)_" _

_ "Oui. Il fait __**presque**__ tous ces travaille. _(Yes. He does **almost **all of his work.)_" _Matthew said with a chuckle.

_ "Comment-fait Arthur? _(How is Arthur?)_"_ Matthew almost choked on the orange juice at this question, and paused before putting his glass down. Why does his father want to know how his Dad was doing?

He didn't know how to respond, because he felt that if he were to say something wrong, then his _Papa _might go back to drinking. Even though he doesn't like the fact, Matthew could agree with Alfred that Arthur was the main reason why Francis drinks and keeps himself busy. He hates thinking that way because he doesn't like blaming his Dad for his _Papa_'s problems…even he may be one of the cause.

_ "Il fait bon dehors, n'est-ce pas? _(Isn't it nice outside?)_"_ Matthew asked quickly, diverting the question. Francis looked at him questioningly, but he didn't seem to care about how Matthew suddenly changes the subject.

_"Oui…"_ Francis replied back unsurely.

_ "Je dois aller, Papa, _(I have to go, Papa,)_"_ Matthew got up from his chair and placed the plate in the sink. He quickly made a hasty exit. "I'll see you later, maybe. I'll call you if I decide to come late. Bye!"

Before Francis could answer, Matthew was out the door and making his way towards the bus stop. He hesitated when he shut the door, and was regretting not letting his father responds back, much less give him a quick peck on the cheek as a 'bye' like he used to usually do. But now a day, it was quite different between the two of them. Like they was more of a distance between them…

* * *

Matthew is extremely grateful that they were signs to show where the school's library was located. However, he was not grateful about how big the entire thing was. Located on the other side of the school, not only was it huge, but it also had two floors, a computer department for those who need to use a computer, and study rooms scattered here and there. There were hundreds-if not, thousands- of rows of bookshelves that touched the ceiling, filled with most likely single books published in the world, and these huge dictionaries and encyclopedia that makes Matthew wonder who would actually read them.

Now, Matthew has a new task to fulfill: he needs to find his grade 10 idiot before he gets lost in the pile of books and magazines. He really wished he had asked Gilbert for his phone number yesterday. It would have saved him the trouble from tiring his legs out by walking around the whole library searching for him.

Matthew sighed as he tugged on his bag strap and started to walk. _Where is he?_ Matthew thought, and was about to venture off once more until he heard a voice.

"HEY MATTHEW! UP HERE!" The voice yelled out loud, even though they were in the library. Matthew stopped what he was doing, and he felt his face heat up when he saw how many people were staring above him, then down towards him. Gritting his teeth, he re-adjusted his glasses and glanced up towards the direction where the voice came from.

"Oh…" Matthew whispered softly to himself when he looked at the second floor that over-viewed the first. He found his grade 10 idiot. Or, at least, his grade 10 idiot found him.

The albino was on the second floor, near the staircases that led there, and was staring down at Matthew with amusement in both his crimson eyes. On the week-ends, students are free to wear whatever they would like on the school grounds, as long as they had their student ID with them at all times. Gilbert must really take "advantage" of this, because he was wearing (you most likely have guessed it) a band shirt with the words _Sleeping with Sirens_, black jeans with those ridiculous chains along the belt, black converse…is his whole closet filled with black clothing or something? What was he aiming for, the bad-ass gothic look? There was a small glint of something metallic around his neck- Matthew guess it was his necklace that he showed him. Against his pale skin, you could point him out a mile away with those clothes. He was leaning against the railing with both his arms folded, his rumpled, snow-white hair looking as messy as usual, and he had that sexy –er, Matthew meant _stupid_- grin plastered on his face.

"_Shhhh!_" Said the librarian, who was glaring at mostly Gilbert than at Matthew. He could tell right away that the librarian did **not **enjoy Gilbert's presence in the least. Matthew mouthed a silent 'sorry' before turning his attention towards the tenth grader.

He quickly scrambled up the staircases, greeting Gilbert with a glare. The other just returned the look with a laugh…or a cackle.

"Kesesese! What's wrong, Birdie? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" He taunted, still grinning. This made Matthew snap. Doesn't he know what to say and when to say it?

"No," Matthew said with a growl. _Why does he always speak in that irritating tone? Why do I have to be here in the morning? Why couldn't I have just stayed home instead? I want to go home, and go to my warm bed, and I want to freaking go to sleep!_

"Then smile, Mattie!" Gilbert said, patting his hand on his shoulder. Matthew smacked his hand away, still glaring at him.

"Damn! You must be really pissed off if you're smacking the awesome me," Gilbert chuckled, shaking his hand a bit. "Hey! I bet the awesome me can make you smile during the time that we're here! Care to bet on it?"

"I highly doubt it," Matthew said with toxic in his voice, turning his back on Gilbert.

"Now you sound like you have a stick up your ass like Ludwig."

"…We're here to study, aren't we?" Matthew said deadly serious. "Where do you want to sit?"

"Chill, Birdie!" He said laxly, still lying on the railing with one arm. He then stood up properly and grabbed Matthew by the wrist. The blonde jolted in surprise at Gilbert's remarkably cold touch, but did not lash it out. Gilbert did not notice how Matthew was staring at his hand with wide eyes, and started to drag Matthew behind him. "There's a study room that's free. We can go there!"

The two of them ventured through the rows of books, making their way towards the small room. Matthew noticed how many people were staring at them-or, Gilbert, at least. They were all either glaring at him, or had this look of pity for Matthew (but some girls were giggling as they passed by them). Matthew ignored them as he did with the stares he received from his Math class. When they entered the small room, there were two long, rectangular shaped tables that where side by side vertically. On the other side of the door that they entered, there was a stone wall, with a plank that said _'Study Room #23'_ (This made Matthew wonder if there were more and where the hell they were scattered). The other walls were made up of just glass so that people could see inside the room, and vise-versa.

Matthew felt Gilbert's cold hands release his wrist, causing him to draw his attention towards him. Strangely, he just kept staring at him

"Earth to Birdie! Do you copy?" Gilbert said, waving his hands exaggeratedly. Matthew blinked his eyes, returning his attention to what was going on in the present time, before sitting down on the chair opposite of Gilbert.

"What were you staring at?" Gilbert asked, before showing off a cocky smirk. He then ran his hand through his tousled hair, winked like those hot-shot actors and said dramatically, "My rugged, sexy-awesome looks?"

"Pfft." Matthew tried his best not to laugh at how ridiculous Gilbert seemed when he said those words, but let a smile slide. "What rugged, sexy-awesome looks am I supposed to see? There are none." Gilbert just smiled at Matthew's retort, and leaned on the table.

"Hey, look! You're smiling! I got you to smile, Birdie!" As a joke, Matthew quickly replaced his smile with a thin line, and replied back emotionlessly.

"What smile?" He asked as he placed his bag to the ground.

"Wow. Really Matthew? What are you trying to pull?"

"I'm not pulling anything. And, I have no idea what you mean when you said that I was just smiling." Gilbert looked at him with a look that said 'oh, you want to play that way, huh?'

"You know, you shouldn't be acting all pissed off like how Mr. Kirkland is," Gilbert said, standing up from his chair and folded his arms behind him. "He always has this grumpy face, like he doesn't know how to smile."

"Oh?" Matthew said, placing his head on one of his hands, interested at how this boy viewed his father as.

"Yeah," Gilbert continued on, pacing a bit back and forth. "Not only that, but he'd speak to us in those British accent. Was he born and raised in England or something?"

"Uh, from what he told me and Alfred…no, sorry… I meant Alfred and I, he was born in England, and stayed there for four years. Then his family moved somewhere in Wales for about two years, before moving here in Canada."

"What you just said! That too! He'd always correct me whenever I say 'me and Roderich' he'd always be like," Gilbert paused, looking directly at Matthew with murderous eyes. He then proceeded to make the worst British-accent ever heard, and shrieked out, "_It is__** 'Roderich and I'**__!__** Roderich and I, **__Gilbert!_" He placed both his hands on his hips, started to tap his left foot irritably as he made a grumpy face. "He always says it in this pose, and he'd always make it sound like it was the end of the world whenever I say 'me and Roderich!"

"Not only that, but people have caught him talking to himself. But, he makes it seem like he's actually talking to someone else. He'd always mutter something like '_Oh, really now Tinker Bell? My, my, that's terrible what Hook did. Would you like some tea, love? Oh, it's dreadful what you had to go through that. What was that, Unicorn? I know, right? Absolutely terrible, am I right Flying-Mint Bunny?_'" He then did a motion as if he was taking a sip out of a cup of tea, his pinky sticking out. As much as Matthew would love to deny it, the fact that his father would start talking to himself is well-known throughout the family and his close friends. And how Gilbert was able to impersonate Arthur that way is just hilarious for Matthew, because that's exactly what he'd say. He and Alfred had asked Arthur once who he was talking to when they were younger. Their Dad simply told them like it was quite obvious that he was talking to a bunch of fairies and Mr. Flying Mint Bunny (this, obviously, made them think that he was having one of his moments because of all the stress that he receives from them and work, and gave him space from then on). Matthew did his best to stifle another laugh, but let a smile slip.

"Interesting, Gilbert, that _that_ is how you see me as," said a sudden voice with a British-accent from the doorway. Although, it was meant to sound like a British-accent, it wasn't as accurate as it can be, but the voice was deep enough to resemble Arthur's. The sound of the voice made Gilbert literally jump up 1 foot in the air, his eyes shoot right open and a small, 'manly' shriek. A _shriek._

This reaction caused Matthew to burst out laughing. He held his breath as both he and Gilbert looked at the doorway leading into the Study Room, where the voice came from.

"Vash! Was that you who said that? What was that for?" Gilbert yelled taking in a deep breath of relief when he found out it wasn't Mr. Kirkland. Matthew saw a boy that must have been a year older than him. He had blonde hair that went a little bit below his chin, with front bangs. His body was slim, but he had noticeable muscles on his arms. He had bland, blue eyes that just stared back at Gilbert neutrally, with not a hint of emotion. He was at least not dressed up in some weird get up like Gilbert was- he had a cameo shirt on with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, and the usual pair of blue jeans. However, what caught Matthew's attention about him was the black necklace that he was wearing around his neck. It had quite a feminine touch, especially with the small, white hand-made Lily pendant on it.

"No apparent reason," the boy replied, and Matthew noted the German accent he had too. He walked into the room, his back straight like that of a sergeant, and made his way towards the table that the duo was sitting at. Something about him reminded Matthew too much of Mr. Lars. "I felt like screwing with you."

"I can't believe that I was stupid to actually think that you were Mr. Kirkland for a second, especially with that accent," Gilbert muttered, running his hand through his snow-white hair pathetically. "What'cha doing here anyway, Vash? I'd imagine you already did all your homework the night before." Matthew looked at Gilbert questioningly. _Did he just call him __**vache**__?_ Matthew thought. _As in…the French word for __**cow**__?_

"It's Basch, Gilbert," the young boy said, but still neutrally. "Basch. Not 'Vash'. After hanging out with me for more than one year, you still can't say my actual name?"

"Hey, I'm not the only one who calls you 'Vash'. Basically everyone does. And it's your fault for not speaking up properly when you told me, Roderich, and Elizabetha your name." Basch just kept staring at Gilbert, making Gilbert surrender his hands up. "What? It suits you, too. And, it's awesome, and this is coming from the awesome himself! You don't always see grade 10 exchange students from Switzerland named 'Vash' and who's seems to know everything about weapons and guns and shit!"

Basch shook his head, ignoring the albino loudness and took notice of the young blonde that was seated in the chair across from Gilbert.

"Who's he?" Basch asked, tilting his head towards Matthew, who just stared back at him.

"This is Matthew. You know how Mr. Kirkland has two sons that started to attend this Academy this year, right? He's one of them."

"Um, nice to meet you Basch." Matthew said smiling a bit, but embarrassed at how Gilbert introduced him.

"Same," Basch replied with a little nod.

"So, tell me Vash, where the hell did you get **that** from?" Gilbert mocked, pointing at the necklace the young Swiss was wearing. For the first time since the few minutes that Matthew has met him, Basch actually showed a bit of expression. There was a light blush that grew on his cheeks, and he looked away bashfully.

"My sister, Lillian, made it for me," he muttered, not looking at Gilbert.

"Oh, right! You have a younger sister in grade 9, huh? I think she's in our Math class, right Matthew? Your last name is Zwingli, right?" Matthew nodded in agreement with Gilbert, much to his surprise. The more that he thought about it, there were a lot of similarities between the two…especially how their hair was the same colour and similar hairstyle.

"Yes…" Basch answered, suddenly glaring at Gilbert suspiciously.

"Hey, why are you looking at the awesome me that way?" Gilbert asked, catching his glare. "Do you have some sort of trust issue with me? You look at me like I did something to your sister!"

"…Knowing you, you might have."

"W-What that's supposed to mean?!" Gilbert yelled furiously.

"Speaking of," Basch continued, ignoring Gilbert's question. "Did either of you two have seen Lilli anywhere here?" There was a hint of worry in his voice when he spoke those words.

"No, we haven't," Matthew replied, cutting Gilbert off before he can yell out a reply. He continued, "Why?" Basch bit his bottom lip nervously; worry clear in his blue eyes.

"She told me that she and two other friends of hers would be going to the school's library in the morning," he replied.

"So?" Gilbert asked. "If she said she's in the library, she'll be here. Do you have trust issues with your own sister too?"

"Gilbert!" Matthew hissed, kicking him hard in the shins hard underneath the table. Gilbert let out a small 'ow'. _Why does he ask the most idiotic questions?_

"No, I don't. I'm just worried about her safety. She's new to this country, and has never left home in Switzerland before. Plus, her friends are quite…" Basch did not finish his sentence, as he was trying to figure out a decent word to describe his sister's friends.

"It's like you put her in house arrest or something," Gilbert joked. "You can't be that protective of her all the time."

"She's in poor health. Her health was, and still isn't the best. I need her to be safe during her time here."

Matthew continued to stare at the young boy, listening attentively. He smiled at his pure words. Although he doesn't seem like it, he's actually really caring and kind. The only problem is how he carries out his words in that neutral voice and expression.

"What's up with her friends?" Gilbert asked curiously.

"I don't know much. She said that one is from here, but was born and raised in Belarus for a while. Her name is something like Natalia. The other one is from somewhere in Africa. I think Lilly said she was from Seychelles. Hers is Michelle. Ever heard of them?" Matthew immediately recognised the name Natalia. It must be that platinum, long-haired girl that had that glare in her eyes. He didn't know her personally, so he really can't tell if she's cruel or actually nice. But, she seems alright...

"Oh yeah!" Gilbert said, snapping his fingers. "I think I know the Natalia you're talking about! She's in our Math class too. I don't know her personally, but she doesn't seem bad. So what's the real problem?"

"…Natalia is Ivan's younger sister." Gilbert choked on his own saliva when he heard what Basch had just said, and was hacking. Matthew almost did too. It seemed likely that she and Ivan are siblings, but their last names aren't the same. His was Braginski and hers was Arlovskaya. Unless, it could be that she uses their mother's maiden name instead.

"Whoa there!" Gilbert said, his hand making a 'stop' motion. "Hold up! Doesn't he already have an older sister who works at school? Isn't she Ms. Braginski from the Social Science department? Now there's another one!"

"Ms. Braginski is not bad at all, Gilbert. She's really kind. But, we both know how Ivan is, and I don't even know his younger sister. So that's why I'm just keeping an eye on Lilli, just for today."

Gilbert had this suspicious and grave look on his face, just like he had when he was confronting Ivan in the hall-way the previous day. This look struck a spark of interest in Matthew. He had no idea what's between Gilbert and Ivan, but he couldn't help but feel the need to know. It was quite nosy of him, since it was none of his business. But he still feels the urge to ask.

"You go, man," Gilbert said as he patted his friend's back. "I can't help you find her, since I have a study session here with Birdie. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yes…see you another time." And with that, the Swiss went out of the study room, marching out with his back straight and head held high.

Gilbert took a seat on the plastic chair, and brought his bag up to the chair beside him. He looked at Matthew, who was following the Swiss out the exit of the room.

"Hey, Birdie," Gilbert said, drawing Matthew's violet eyes to him.

"Hm?" Matthew replied, staring back at Gilbert.

"I caught you smiling again," Gilbert said with a grin.

"Sure you did." Matthew leaned over the table and grabbed Gilbert's backpack. He opened it and took out his Math text book and supposedly his math notebook (it had the word '_Math_' on it). He placed it in front of Gilbert, who was looking at him questioningly, and was flipping through his notebook. It was, obviously, blank with no traces of lead anywhere.

"Tell me, Gilbert, what do you know about the unit we were just studying about?" Matthew asked, shutting the notebook. Gilbert looked at Matthew with blank eyes, as if he was in the process of trying to comprehend what Matthew said.

"Well?"

"Uhhhhh…." Gilbert slurred, rubbing his neck with his hand. "Well, you see, we were learning how to do this…and something with exponents and stuff like that…adding and subtracting them…yeah."

"Yeah?" Matthew repeated softly and too nicely, as if coaxing Gilbert to come a bit closer so that he can snap his head of his neck.

"…Yeah, Birdie." He leaned back against his chair with a nervous grin, and was tapping his fingers on the table. They stared at each other for a few minutes. Matthew broke the stare, letting out a tired sigh when he realised that Gilbert had no idea what they learned, and went to the first pocket of his bag to get some pencils and pens.

Matthew had his bet that this session was going to take more than 2 hours.

* * *

"So you have to do this and add these when the equation is additions, okay?"

"Yeah."

"So, when it's an equation with subtraction, you'd have to subtract these two numbers on top. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Now, with fractions you'd have to do this and this…..okay?"

"Yeah."

"And then, with these equations, you'll have to do this…alright?"

"Yeah."

"Now, you bring this here and here in these cases, and you'll have to follow the order... Okay?"

"Yeah."

"…yeah?"

"…yeah."

"…"

"…"

"Okay, if you understand so much, solve this question then."

"…"

"…Well?"

"….Hey, Birdie, how do we do this again? I forgot."

"…..Are. You. Kidding. Me. Gilbert."

"No, actually, I'm not. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing."

"…Fine. See, you have to do this…."

This has been going on for around one and a half hour now. They'd been sitting in the same spot for the last hour and a half. Yet, somehow, no matter how many times Matthew has told him repetitively, it seems like Gilbert still had no idea what the hell was going on. Although this was really irritating Matthew, he still couldn't help but actually_ like_ the presence of the boy around him.

"Okay," Matthew said tiredly, placing his pencil down. He had explained how to solve these kinds of questions for the millionth time to Gilbert. "Now that I explained this question, can you please solve this one? It's similar to the one I showed you." Gilbert simply nodded, and took the pencil into his hands. He flipped the notebook page over, and started to read through the question in the thick textbook. He wrote the equation down on the page, then paused right there.

"U-Um, Birdie? Can you show me once more…please?" Matthew groaned and let his head fall on top of the table with a loud _Bam!_ Gilbert was way more of a hopeless case than Alfred was. It was so much easier with Alfred because he **will** do the work if you threaten him to delete one of his almost-completed game files on any of his gaming systems he owns.

"How did you even get more than 50% on the test?" He muffled, tilting his head to face Gilbert.

"I just did wild guesses, Birdie," Gilbert said with a nervous chuckle, obviously not proud of that tactic at the moment. Matthew took in a deep breath in frustration, and sat up.

"That's it. I'm not going to help you on this one. You…do this by yourself!" Matthew said, folding his arms and leaning back against the rest. He took off his glasses and placed them on top of his head. They were giving him a head-ache, and if you add Gilbert into the mush, Matthew's head was killing him.

"Aw, but c'mon! Please?" Gilbert pouted, clasping his hands together. Matthew looked at Gilbert, before rubbing one of his temples with his hand.

Rolling his eyes, he took the pencil out of Gilbert's hand (their fingers brushed against each other, Matthew noted) and started to explain once more.

As Matthew was explaining, he noticed how Gilbert was watching him than looking at the piece of paper he was explaining the question on. He had this mysterious, small smile on his face, and his eyes was a mixture of amused and something else.

"So," Matthew said, placing the pencil down. He pointed at one of the questions in the textbook. "Can you do these two pages instead now? You should be able to do these with ease." Gilbert looked at the question and read through it once. Then twice.

Picking up his pencil, he started to right down the equation, applying the steps and such. This went on for the next thirty minutes. Amazingly, it seems like Gilbert was not hesitating at all when it came to answering. His train of thought were fluent as the motion of his pencil on the paper. As creepy as this may sound, Matthew just watched him as he continued to write the answers and punching the numbers on the calculator. He found it funny and, as much as he wants to deny this very much, cute, how Gilbert had this look of sheer concentration.

"Here," he said, tossing the pencil out of his hands as he laid back against the chair. Matthew glared at him suspiciously, and took the notebook off the table. Surprisingly, he actually did the equations properly, and they were all correct. _Surprise, surprise_, Matthew thought, as he looked through the page to try to find mistakes. It was weird how he suddenly seems to have understood everything. Maybe he really is smart and actually got accepted to the school not on a whim, but just acts like an idiot for a reason.

"Okay, good. Looks like you understand. So tell me," Matthew folded his hands together and placed his head on them. "What did you learn?"

"Uh, well, I learned everything that you just taught me…"

"Alright. And what was that exactly?"

"…Wait, do I have to explain everything word by word?"

"Of course! If you can't, we'll be staying here for an extra hour…"

"No, you don't have to," Matthew said, laughing at Gilbert's dumbfounded face. "I was just joking with you." Gilbert sighed in relief as he rolled his shoulders backwards, stretching his arms and back.

"Finally!" Gilbert exclaimed, laying his head against the table.

"Aw, poor baby," Matthew mocked, poking the tenth grader's cheek tauntingly. "Do you want a massage from all that 'hard' work?"

"Yes please~" Gilbert played along, smirking and gave out a quick wink. Matthew felt his heart skip a beat, and his face being pumped with blood. He diverted his attention by finding an interesting place on the table. _That is one fancy table they have here. I wonder what it's made of_, Matthew thought forcefully, trying not to think much about how he was reacting. _Don't give it too much thought, Matthew. You always blush whenever people even make eye contact with you. This is totally normal. _

"Hey, Birdie," Gilbert said, playing with Matthew hand a bit, tossing it between his hands. "Are you going directly home now, or what?"

"I'm not sure," Matthew replied, taking his hand out of the other's grasp. "I might. Why?"

"U-Uh," Gilbert stuttered, not looking directly at Matthew, much to Matthew's confusion as to why. "Do you, maybe, want to…you know…join me for lunch?"

"U-Um," Matthew stuttered out, suddenly experiencing an odd feeling when Gilbert asked. "Sure, I guess-"

"_Riiiiiinnnnnngggggg!" _His cell phone shrilled in his pocket, scaring the living daylights out of both of them. Matthew awkwardly grabbed his phone out of his pocket, scolding himself for not putting it on vibration mode.

"Hello?" He asked between gritted teeth, a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Heyy Mattie!" Said the caller in an unusual hushed tone.

"Al?" Matthew asked, wondering why the hell he was calling.

"Yeah, brah!" Strangely enough, Matthew felt extremely pissed at Alfred for calling at this exact moment.

"What is it that you want?" Matthew said between gritted teeth as he turned away from the albino. "I'm in the library, if you must know, with Gilbert." Over the other line, he could hear his brother gasp dramatically.

"You were serious when you said that you were going there?!" Alfred yelled into the phone.

"_Shh…Alfred-san, please, we're in the library…_" Said another hushed voice from over the line, before Alfred told the other to 'shh!'

"Is that Kiku?" Matthew asked confused, before he started to piece everything together. "The library...Are you at the school's library?"

"Uhhhh, nooo," Alfred said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Uh-huh. I so believe you, Alfred," Matthew said, peeking out the window that separated the room from the library. He scanned through the area where he can see. "Where are you exactly?"

"…Not outside the study room #23, that's for sure bro."

"How do you know I'm in that specific place?" Matthew asked for no apparent reason, already knowing for sure that his younger brother was somewhere around there. He then noted a random, blonde strand of hair sticking out from the rest of a blonde muss…

"Alfred, those sunglasses won't help disguise you. And that book you're reading is upside-down."

The boy with the blonde hair quickly flipped his book the right way, and took off his sunglasses, making direct eye contact with Matthew. Alfred gave off another one of his brilliant, a million megawatts smiles, and waved his hand in a 'what-a-pleasant-surprise!' way. Beside him, Kiku just did a face-palm. Matthew did the courtesy of waving back, before cutting off the line.

"Um, Birdie?" Gilbert curiously posed, putting his books in his backpack. Matthew sighed as he returned his view towards him.

"Sorry, Gilbert, I can't go with you." Matthew heaved his bag on his shoulders. "I've got to…take care of something. I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

"Uh, Monday? Sure, Matthew, but -" Gilbert said, following behind the blonde.

"Make sure to study a bit tomorrow. Okay?" Matthew responded quickly, stopping the other on his tracks.

"…Yeah, sure," Gilbert mumbled.

"Sorry about interrupting you. Did you want to say something?"

"Oh, um, I just wanted to say thanks and sorry," Gilbert responded. "You know, for putting up with me today…"

"Putting up with you?"

"Yeah. I wasted, like, 2 hours of your time because I'm really stupid and-"

"You know, you shouldn't say things like that," Matthew replied softly, flicking him on the forehead. "It's not good. And, it's not like I'm mad at you or anything. I'll be mad if you don't pass the test on Monday." Gilbert just let out a small chuckled as he took a step forward.

"Of course, Birdie," Gilbert beamed with his signature smirk, coming way too close to Matthew, playfully twirling that one, curly strand of strawberry blonde hair that stuck out upwards. Matthew could feel yet another annoying blush growing on his face. He was biting his lower lip embarrassingly, trying to calm down his beating heart. Why was he feeling this way? This feeling is completely foreign to him. Why does it only happen around the 10th grader?

Gilbert looked like he was about to continue talking, before something hit him on the head, forcing his hand to retreat. Matthew started at the object –a pink eraser- in surprise, and glanced over at the direction where it was shot at. So did Gilbert. It came from Alfred's direction, who made it obvious it was him quickly hid his face behind the book he was reading. Now Matthew was red with embarrassment.

"Hey, is that-" Gilbert said, glaring at the blonde behind the book suspiciously.

"I have to go," Matthew interrupted. "See you on Monday." Before Gilbert could reply, Matthew made a beeline towards the blonde at the table. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the albino shrug, and started to walk way.

"Alfred," Matthew started seriously when he came close enough to the table Alfred and Kiku were sitting at. Alfred just grinned stupidly.

"Oh, hey Mattie! What a…coincidence!" Alfred said, faking a surprise. Kiku shook his head disappointingly at Alfred's acting before looking at Matthew with his same, stoic expression.

"Hello, Matthew-san."

"Hi, Kiku. Let me guess: Alfred dragged you here to spy on me for the past 2 hours?" To this, Kiku shook his head.

"No, I didn't know he would be here until I came an hour ago. I only came to borrow books for science…"

"It was a good thing you did, too, Kiku!" Alfred exclaimed, ignoring the fact that they were in the library. A few people turned their head at his voice, mostly with annoyance in their eyes.

"Shush, Alfred." Matthew said, obviously equally annoyed. "Why are you spying on us?" Alfred just looked at his elder brother with big, blue puppy eyes.

"Spying?" Alfred said innocently. "I simply wanted to see my only brother…"

"Uh-huh," Matthew replied blandly. It was obvious that Alfred will not speak now. He pinched his cheek and pulled on it a bit.

"Owowowow!" Alfred cried as his mouth stretched, getting off his chair to stand on the same level as Matthew. "Stawp it Mattiiiie!"

"Come on, we're leaving," Matthew sternly said, and started to drag his brother by his cheek, who was trying to not trip over is foot. Alfred glanced over at Kiku, and waved his arms exaggeratedly.

"Noooo, waaaiiiit! Keeeeks, heeeelp meee!" he cried. Kiku, however, sensed that he should not interfere.

"Bye Matthew-san and Alfred-san," Kiku said, smiling and waving his hand at the brothers.

"Later Kiku," Matthew replied with a quick nod, before he continued to drag Alfred. Alfred, however, continued to say 'Owowowow' during their little trip out the door. On the way, many were looking at them, and they had these mocking looks on their faces. Matthew did his best to ignore their snickers until they made it outside the library, in the hallway. He then halted, and let go of Alfred. His brother rubbed his cheek sorely when Matthew let go.

"Alfred," Matthew started seriously.

"Matthew~" Alfred replied in a sing-song way. He caught the look in his brother's eyes, and wiped the grin off his face.

"Why did you come?" Matthew said straight to the point. Alfred looked at him for a moment, before sighing.

"I was just checking on you," Alfred muttered, not looking at Matthew.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious why?" Alfred said with an edge in his tone. "You were with…**_him_**."

"I'm sorry, but can you please be more specific?"

"With that…10th grader dude!" Alfred stubbornly said.

"Gilbert." Matthew replied.

"Yeah, him."

"No-no. Repeat after me Alfred. Gil-bert."

"…Yeah, _Gilbert_."

"Good little brother," Matthew said, patting his brother on his head. "You know and can finally say his name!" Alfred tsked annoyingly.

"Not funny, Mattie," Alfred said sternly. "You know I don't like that guy."

"Why?"

"Because!" Alfred cried childishly.

"Because…?" Matthew asked.

"Mattie! I just…don't trust him." Matthew crossed his arms.

"So? Why do you have to spy on us?"

"I was not spying; I was just making sure he wasn't going to do anything to you."

"Alfred, you make it seem like he was about to fucking feel me up."

"He seems like the type to do that," Alfred said truthfully.

"Well, I'll assure you, he is not the type to do that," Matthew replied, as they started to walk down the hall.

"What was he doing to you before? He was way too close to you!"

"So what?" Matthew muttered uncomfortably. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered the distance between them, and the same foreign feeling crept through him.

"Couldn't you tell from the look in his eyes? You should be glad I interrupted."

"No, I'm not glad actually," Matthew mumbled with a grimace. "That was really childish of you and embarrassing for me."

"How is it embarrassing for you? He's not anything special for you to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of him." Alfred paused, and stopped on his tracks. He glanced at Matthew who was a few steps ahead and was looking at him. "Or is he something special to you?"

"Of course he's not special to me!" Matthew blubbered out uneasily, turning his back on his brother. "Why would you think that?"

"Good. Just asking," Alfred sighed with relief.

"You know, you act like you're the protective, responsible older brother between the two of us." Matthew said with a small laugh.

"Heheh," Alfred chuckled nervously, looking away from his brother. "_Responsible_…yeah, sure, I'm so responsible. But, I'm glad I'm not the older brother between the two of us, since, you know, the eldest will always be able to save the younger one's ass in_ certain_ situations, like, oh I don't know, forgetting to bring extra bus fare for the trip back home."

"…you forgot your fare, didn't you?"

"Er, yeah…Can you pay for me…?"

"…"

"…Please?"

"…Fine," Matthew sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly as he continued to walk down the hallway. Alfred caught up to him, and hugged Matthew from behind.

"Thanks, big bro!" Alfred said cheerfully, squeezing his older brother around his stomach.

"O-Okay, Alfred," Matthew choked out. "L-Let go-o of me, you're s-squeezing me!" Alfred stopped clinging on to him, as he let out one of his laughs.

"Awe, but why?" Alfred pouted light-heartedly as they exited the building.

"Do you not know how muscular you are? It's bone-crushing!"

"Ha! You're so weak, Mattie! Not only that, you have that feminine body of yours! It's funny how you can still play hockey with that figure!"

"…Screw it. For that pointless comment yours, I'm not paying for your bus fare."

"What! H-Hey, Mattie! I was only joking, dude! Relax. Seriously, Matt! Hey, wait up! Oh, c'mon bro! Please? Pretty please?!"

And so, they continued to walk along the sidewalk, with the brothers' constant yelling and talking, which greatly annoyed the others. And for those wondering…yes, in the end Matthew did end up paying for Alfred's bus fare.


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: Summer time is finally here and I finally updated! :D Now that I have more free time, I'll be able to update more. Thank you guys so much for continuing to read, review, follow and favour this story! **

** I feel the need to apologise for slurring the story too long -_-' It's like no process is going on between Matthew and Gilbert, and I'm so sorry! This chapter is inching it towards a direction, but the whole thing might be slow...**

* * *

Chapter 9

It's been a while since their "study date", as one may call it. Matthew ended up at his Dad's house for the weekend thanks to Alfred's constant persistence. When the weekend was done, and classes resumed like always, Gilbert did have to take the re-test after school. The following day, he received his results…a 68%.

_"68?" Matthew asked in surprise as Gilbert waltzed down the rows of desks, grinning with pride and showed him his paper._

_ "I know, right?!" Gilbert exclaimed proudly as he took his seat. He passed Matthew over the papers, allowing him to examine his errors._

_ "And you're proud of this?" Matthew questioned, noticing all the careless mistakes the youth made. _

_ "Well, yeah," Gilbert replied, looking at Matthew confusingly. "Why wouldn't I?"_

_ "But…This is below 70," he said, giving the German back the test._

_ "So?" The albino said, trying to see Matthew's point. "I'm glad, as long I pass the 60 mark and I didn't fail." Matthew only raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything. _

He wasn't trying to seem like some pompous brat, but he usually ponders on how people would limit themselves to receive these marks, when they can obviously do much better. This is especially the case with Alfred. His brother was smart, but he rather fool around instead of reading a book (even if he did, it would only be comic books with the usual superhero and villain). And this is most likely the same case with Gilbert, but he rather be sleeping or do something else instead.

_Why am I thinking about him now?_ Matthew thought furiously, shaking his head a bit, but not too vigorously as to catch everyone's attention. At the moment, he was in his 2nd period French class, seated in the last row from the teacher's desk, beside one of the windows. They had a small quiz that particular day, and so all the students were working away on it.

Of course, being the genius student Matthew was, he had already finished the two and a half, double sided pages of the quiz. All he had left to do as his classmates complete their work is to read. But, somehow that seemed to be quite difficult for Matthew. Recently, Matthew was having thoughts about Gilbert. They were sudden thoughts that popped out of nowhere, at the random time.

_'She glanced over at the young boy with beautiful crimson eyes and silver hair that shone against the moonlight',_ Matthew read, focusing his attention to the phrases printed on the cream-coloured page. Unfortunately, his mind started to drift off towards something else as he read that line. _Crimson eyes and silver hair…Gilbert… _A sudden image of him flashed through Matthew's mind. And to Matthew, he was left in a trance at the beauty of the image.

When he realised how his thoughts once again drifted off towards the grade 10, he closed both his eyes frustratingly. Heaving in a breath, he continued to read on the passage.

_'She glanced over at the young boy with beautiful crimson eyes and silver hair that shone against the moonlight. He walked up towards her; the faint scent of his cologne wafted through the air. He hesitated slightly as he lifted his hand. She didn't flinch at the feeling of his cold fingers against her cheeks. Instead, she entered a trance as she stared deep into his eyes. He then whispered something sweetly that only she can hear. "I love you," he whispered gently into her ear.'_

_ "I love you," Gilbert whispered gently into Matthew's ear_.

_ Whoa there, _Matthew thought shockingly, the book dropping out of his hand as his eyes widened in disbelief. _Where the maple did that come from?_ He immediately shut the book, before his imagination can run anymore wilder, placed a hand over his forehead. He was really disturbed about what he had just thought a moment ago.

_Gilbert, saying that he loves me? _Matthew thought crossly, as he stared out the window. _Why? Why brain? Stop making me think this way! The thought of Gilbert saying he loves me is just…BLAH! IT'S STUPID AND INHUMAN AND I SHOULDN'T BE THINKING THIS AT ALL! _

As Matthew thought about how crazy he was of thinking that way (and a few people were glancing at him, thinking that he was, indeed, crazy from his facial expression), his eyes were drawn on the field. From where his French class was located at, he was able to see the outdoor track and field very well. And so, he was able to see the Gym class that was using the field at the moment.

He watched as the students –it was a grade 10 Male Phys. Ed class- were scattered across the field. Half were wearing the regular uniform shirt, while the other half had to wear red bandannas around their arm. They were playing a game of soccer, and from the looks of it, both teams were dead serious to win. The ball was being passed between the players with the red bandannas, and the players playing forward were quickly closing in on the no bandannas goal.

Amongst the players that were on the opposite team, there was one that caught his attention. It was most likely because of his distinct snowy hair that caught his attention…or the fact that he was the only one not wearing the gym uniform and instead is wearing a tight black tank top that really showed off his broad and muscular arms, with his lean build with his red gym shorts. And it was quite tight against his body too, showing off the curves on his hips.

From where he was, Matthew could also see who was talking and to whom. He watched as there was a quick dash of electrifying white right in front of the opposite player with the ball. Swiftly, and skillfully, Gilbert was able to take the ball out of the other's hands –_foot_-. Another opposite forward player tried his best to retrieve the ball, but his speed could not match that of the German. There was one player open, and he quickly passed it, making sure he ran up closer to the net to receive it once more. As soon as he got to the edge of the goalie's box, the goalie was running towards him to grab the ball. Gilbert must have seen him coming, because with a sudden turn, he was able to go around the goalie with the ball and-BAM! - hit the ball from where he was at. The ball shot across the air, and went directly into the net.

The opposite team looked disappointingly at the net, while Gilbert just flashed a grin as he high-fived his teammates who were cheering. He jogged back to his side in triumph, still so proud of himself for scoring that goal.

Gilbert glanced up towards the windows, as if sensing he was being watched. When he looked up towards the window where Matthew was peering through, he caught the blonde looking at him.

Matthew in turn, just quickly turned his head, as if trying to cover up the fact he was gazing. But, from the corners of his eyes, at the sight of him, Gilbert's smile just widened and he started to wave towards him. Matthew couldn't help but shyly wave back a bit at him.

When Gilbert confirmed that it was Matthew who was looking at him, he seemed like he was about to yell something up at him. That was, before one of the boys yelled at him on the field to pay attention, drawing his gaze away from Matthew. Gilbert quickly did a quick salute to signify that he had to go, and started to run down the field to take his position. Matthew just continued to gaze at him, as the game continued and he ran up and down the field.

"_Est-ce que t'aime ce que tu vois, Mathieu ? _(Do you like what you're seeing, Matthew?)"

"_Oui_," Matthew responded automatically at the question, not realising who had asked him and how he was caught watching the guys. He widened his eyes at his own response even, and he turned around to look at the person beside him. It was his teacher, M. Nzié, who was smiling down at his response. Matthew felt his face starting to heat up quickly, and he was sure a crimson blush had already formed on his cheeks, and may soon spread. And it did when he saw people were looking at him funnily. How embarrassing…

"_Er…je…je… _(Er…I…I...)" Matthew stuttered, trying to find an excuse to say. M. Nzié just chuckled, as he fixed his glasses.

"_ Tu as regardé comme si t'était dans les nuages. Il y a 15 minutes qui reste. Est-ce que tu as fini avec le quiz?_ (You looked like you were in the clouds. There is 15 minutes left. Are you finished with the quiz? _" _

_ "O-Oui,_" Matthew muttered, giving the papers and giving them to the teacher. M. Nzie accepted them with a nod, and continued down the aisle to ask the students if they were finished. He placed his face into his folded arms, trying to wave off his embarrassment. He felt like killing himself after that answer. _So embarrassing_…

It was the longest 15 minutes Matthew must have ever experience, and the moment the bell rang for the start of lunch, Matthew made a hasty exit towards his locker. He sighed in relief when he escaped the tense air in the classroom. When he arrived to his destination, he noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of one of the slots in his locker. He opened the locker, and a piece of folded paper fluttered out, landing on the ground.

Matthew leaned down to pick the piece off the floor, and opened the fold. There was writing on the paper, but Matthew couldn't really decipher what it was saying for a moment. He couldn't tell if it was some form of Gibberish or a fail attempt at writing English. Although, after scanning through the messy writing multiple times, he was able to find out the following:

_"Hey, Birdie~!_

_ Meet the awesome me during lunch break today, 'Kay :D? At the usual place, too! _

_-From,  
THE AWESOME GILBERT BEILSCHMIDT (OF THE AWESOME PRUSSIA)!"_

Matthew couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the capitalized words and the emoticon. During those past few days, both Matthew and Gilbert had actually started to talk more than just inside the Math class, mostly during lunch and after classes ended for the day.

It started on the day that Gilbert took the make-up test. Gilbert actually begged for Matthew to wait behind for him if he had to stay behind when class was over to finish up the test (he knew that the period given wouldn't have enough for him to complete the whole thing). Oddly, Matthew actually agreed. After Gilbert was finished, they started to talk a bit outside the classroom.

_"Why did you ask me to wait for you?" Matthew asked suddenly as they walked down the hallway of locker-covered walls. He had to go to his locker, and Gilbert decided to accompany him there. _

_ All Gilbert did was shrug his shoulders to his question. "I might as well hang out with you for a bit. I mean, you will be seeing me a lot to help me out with math anyway."_

_ "Oh," Matthew replied, before realising something. "You didn't take the new notes from today, eh? Here, I'll lend you them."_

_ "What?" Gilbert whined as Matthew reached into his bag and pulled out his notebook. "More shit to study?"_

_ "Well, duh," Matthew said as he pushed the notes against Gilbert's stomach briskly. Unintentionally, his hand went smack right against him, and he took note of how solid his abs were, as creepy as that just sounded. He blushed a bit before blubbering out, "Take them and make sure to copy them down!"_

_ Gilbert took them, and flipped the pages to the recent entries. His expression was an expression of bewildered and confused, and his red-coloured eyes looked at Matthew with wide eyes._

_ "Do you seriously expect me to understand this, Birdie?" Gilbert said in a pleading tone. "You've got to help me on this, because I have no idea what the hell this is!" _

_ "I wonder if you learned anything last year," Matthew muttered, using a finger to slowly rub circles on the sides of his temple at how loud Gilbert was. "Just copy them down, and I'll help you out tomorrow, okay?"_

_ "Well, that's easy Birdie. Can we meet before the math period, since, you know, we'll be learning a new lesson tomorrow?"_

_ "Ah, sure," he replied as he opened his locker and took out a red binder, placing it into his bag. "Tomorrow morning, maybe?"_

_ "Ooh, sorry Matthew," Gilbert said in a sarcastic tone that sounded like he was supposed to sound sorry. "You know, the awesome me just can't wake up early in the morning. My body has a schedule that I need to follow, and I can never wake up before a certain time."_

_ "Which is?" Matthew questioned, locking the locker as he started to walk down the hallway towards the nearby staircase._

_ Gilbert made a clicking sound with his mouth, before answering, "Oh, you know. I can't wake up before 8 o'clock in the morning. It's just too hard for me to leave my bed alone before that specific time. Especially on the week-days."_

_ "Aw," Matthew mocked with fake sympathy as he placed his hands against his cheeks in an 'Oh no' way. "Well, you're just going to have to learn to wake up early from now on."_

_ "Nein, Vögelchen," Gilbert whined, dragging himself after Matthew. "I don't wanna wake up early tomorrow." Gilbert took a slight pause, as if thinking. "Why don't we just use the lunch hour to do that?"_

_ "I don't know Gilbert…" Matthew said unsurely, seeing an opportunity to joke around a bit. "You see, I like to use my lunch time to just hang with the gang."_

_ "The gang?" Gilbert asked, stifling a small laugh at how Matthew tried to say the sentence in a gangster sort of way. _

_ "Oh yeah," Matthew replied, twirling around by his heels to face Gilbert in a 'serious' way. "__The gang__. Consists of yours truly, the leader, obviously, Alfred, Carlos, Ludwig, Kiku, Feliciano, and Heracles. Sometimes Yong Soo, Tinos, Berwald, and heck, even Emile will be there. Our symbol is the Puffin. Me and my homeboys, we just like to hang around the fifth floor, where nobody dares to go." _

_ "What happened to the cafeteria?" Gilbert asked, playing along. "That's where most of the niners stay for a while before actually going to other places."_

_ "Oh, you know…We were screwing around and got ourselves kicked out countless times." _

_ "I'm pretty sure that you of all people would get kicked out of somewhere."_

_ "I didn't say it was only me. Whenever we're in there, people just can't help but stare at us. That's how much attention we attract, 'cause we're cool like that."_

_ "What do you guys do?"_

_ "Cause some sort of trouble, that's all. We smuggle in some cats thanks to Heracles through the windows and doors, along with Feliciano being the little rebel he is by sneaking into the kitchen to make some pasta for us, and Alfred and Carlos would get into fist-fights over ice-cream Carlos got from the convenience store down the road."_

_ "Dang, you guys are one hell of a gang. Hell, even Ludwig's part of it, so it must be something."_

_ "We are, eh? And the ladies love us because of that. We have this unlimited amount of awesomeness…Yo." _

_ "Kesesese~!" Gilbert ended his laughter, patting Matthew's shoulder. "Oh, Birdie. I need to give you lessons on how to be cool and awesome like me whenever you talk!"_

_"Sure Gilbert. You're 'awesome' and 'cool' alright. And who says I don't talk 'cool'…dawg?" Matthew added, crossing his arms._

_ "You want me to be honest? You just look adorable when you tried talking like that." Gilbert replied, playfully ruffling his hair. _

_ "Whatever," Matthew mumbled, brushing his hand away. "So where do we go? The library again?"_

_"No way, Birdie. The place smells like old, crusty books, and are most likely the original copies of something by Charles Dickens himself."_

_"Because it's a frigging library, Gilbert. Of course it will smell like books. And I actually like the smell of them, so I don't understand why you hate it."_

_ "I'm fine with new books, but some are printed from as early as the 1850s, or before. It's musty in there."_

_ "Okay, fine, not the library. So, where do you want to meet tomorrow?"_

_ "Hmm…We can just sit outside, like around the track area, since the weather has been so good recently. I'll come pick you up, okay?"_

_ "But, wouldn't that be too distracting-?"_

_ "Nope! I won't get distracted at all, Birdie! I'll see ya tomorrow!"_

_ "W-Wait, Gilbert-!"_

_ "Later Birdie!" He quickly ran off before Matthew could finish, leaving the blonde standing in the foyer once again. Shaking his head at the albino's behaviour, Matthew just walked outside, and waited for Alfred to appear. _

Gilbert ended up by Matthew's locker at the beginning of lunch the next day. As he walked down the hallways with his 'Birdie' outside, Matthew couldn't help but notice a bunch of girls who were secretly exchanging photos who were giggling contagiously at the sight of the two youths together (they most likely think that Matthew was Alfred)…creepy thing is, they look similar to the girls in the library…

During the lunch period, they sat down under a tree for shade amongst the others that were lined up near the track. Gilbert would sometimes wander his view towards the field, where some others would be playing American football or some other sport, and Matthew would have to draw his attention back.

And as the days went by, Matthew was able to get used to Gilbert's outrageous questions, whining, annoyance, the way he said 'awesome' and other things a bit more. His tolerance level for the boy has increased a bit. They actually learned a few things about each other during their little conversations here and there. Gilbert found out the little things that Matthew liked, and Matthew learned simple things from his elder.

They actually did exchange phone numbers and Gilbert randomly texted him. Of course, Alfred saw the texts, and gave Matthew this disapproving look, but he ignored him and they had this conversation which seems more like an inquiry for Matthew.

Knowing where their 'usual place' was, Matthew quickly gathered some things and made his way down to the second level floor. Luckily he packed his lunch, so he doesn't need to go to the cafeteria. He was about to turn the corner, when he was stopped by two girls conversing.

"No way! Kat, are you serious?!"

"Shh, Fatima, not so loud! People are going to hear you!"

_Oh maple leaf_, Matthew thought_. Just girls who are talking about some guy they saw, or something_. Now, normally, Matthew would just walk by, and continue on. However, before he could, something caught his ear, forcing him to stay in place.

"But, I can't believe it! Are you seriously crushing on Gilbert? Are we talking about the same Gilbert here?"

"There is only one hot guy by the name Gilbert Beilschmidt in the whole entire school, Fatima." This pricked Matthew's curiosity, and he lay against the wall, his ears trying to tune into every detail.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just making sure. But, seriously, Kat? **Gilbert**? Isn't he one of the most crushed on guys in the school? If I remember correctly, Elizabetha even said that his photos are one of the top ten most wanted. Also in her poll, he was ranked as something for being one of the hottest and cutest guys in grade 10, with Vash and Roderich."

"Ha! I remember that! Nobody can deny this though: he's just too hot. I mean, that face is just…! Oh my goodness, and his muscles I just…He's just too much! I melt at the sight of him! But you know, I'm amazed that he never had a girlfriend all throughout last year."

"He's still single, right? I'm pretty sure it's because of his personality. Sure, he's good-looking and all, but he has this big-ass ego that's annoying as fuck."

"That means that I could totally have a chance with him! I mean, no one is actually making a move, so I could totally take that to my advantage and at least try."

Matthew felt a ting inside of him. An emotion started to suddenly arouse in him…and it wasn't a good feeling either. He couldn't help but really dislike that girl for saying those words, even if he wanted to deny it.

"That's right Kat! You go up to Gilbert, and kiss him right there!" Said the girl (Fatima) sarcastically.

"Kiss him right there? I wish I could kiss him. I bet that he's a great kisser. Care to bet on it?"

"Care to end this awkward conversation? C'mon. I remember Elizabetha sells the photos after school near the stands at the track. Do you want to go check it out?"

"Oh yeah! I'm so going to snag some photos of my darling Gilbert! I'll be sure to meet you there!" The two girls continued to go down the hallway, leaving Matthew to ponder around the corner.

He was still feeling this emotion inside him, and it was slowly taking over his body. _Her? Have a chance with Gilbert? Honey, please. I bet he wouldn't like kissing you…_ Matthew widened his eyes in disbelief at his thoughts.

_Wait…what? What… did I just think? Why am I even thinking that way? Why am I feeling and thinking like this? This is so stupid!_

_ It's totally cool that she likes Gilbert! Yep, totally cool. It's not my problem if she even kisses Gilbert! But, it's not he'd be willing to do that…will he? Argh, Matthew, stop it. I'm sounding like I'm __**jealous**__ if she does go out with Gilbert. Which, I'm not, by the way. Why would I be __**jealous**__? That is just ridiculous! _

It was quite obvious that Gilbert was quite popular amongst, well, everyone in the school. Everyone knew his name, and could recognise him right away. If you ask about him, then you'd get a lot of complaints. But, Matthew hadn't actually realise he was hit on most in the school. No wonder he saw girls (and a very few number of guys) staring at him in a daze from afar.

By the time Matthew had walked outside towards the tree they would usually sit at, he was still thinking about what he felt and why he felt it and why he was thinking in a certain way and how useless this whole conversation with himself was. When he got near the tree, he realised that there were already two people standing there, looking up at the tree.

One was a girl, maybe a year older than Matthew, with a pink flower pin on one side of her long, light brown wavy hair that flowed up to her waist. She was wearing the short-sleeves colour shirt that was un-tucked, with the red plaid skirt and white, knee-high socks. Her hands laid on her hips in a serious manner. The other was a boy the same age as the girl, who had dark brown hair, and a strand of hair sticking out. Even though it was warm outside, he wore the long-sleeved shirt with the red vest, and black pants.

"Gilbert, I swear to the kindness of my heart, if you don't give Roderich his music sheets back, I will personally come up there and flatten you with my frying pan!" The girl yelled up to the tree, and Matthew noted the Hungarian accent she carried. Matthew could hear a familiar cackle that drew his attention upwards. There Gilbert was, perched up on branch that was very high up. His legs were swaying back and forth, and he had a bunch of sheets in his hand, which he held tauntingly.

"Kesesese~! What, does Eidelstein need someone else to get his things?"

"I would love to come up there and beat you shitless, Gilbert!" The other boy said in a German-accent. "But unfortunately, I prefer to do other things than sully my hands by climbing up this tree!"

"What's this? A song?" Gilbert eyes wandered through the page, before a smirk appeared on his face.

"That is for my music class and I am going to be noted on how I play it!" The boy yelled up, marching up towards the tree angrily. "The teacher will deduct points if I lose those sheets! Responsibility counts too!"

"If you want it, come and get it~" Gilbert sang, before he bent backwards to dodge a pine cone that the girl threw at him. "Nice shot, Eliza, but you- Whoa, whoa_,_ _heilige Scheiße_!" He was about to fall off the branch backwards, but he was able to grab a hold of the branch with his hands and he just hung off his legs. Unfortunately, the sheets that he was holding fell out of his grasp, and started to flutter down. The boy gasped, before he caught all the sheets before they were able to fly with the wind. He shuffled through them, making sure he has the all of them, and sighed in relief.

Meanwhile with Gilbert, he was still hanging off his legs, his arms holding on to the branch as some support, craning his neck as to look at the two students. His eyes wandered further, however, and it seemed like his face lit up, and he broke into a bigger smile when he saw Matthew.

"Hey, Birdie!" He greeted loudly and happily as he brought himself up on top of the branch and looked down. "Do you want to join me up here? The view is great!"

The duo that was standing on the ground turned around to face Matthew. He took note of how the boy had glass on, a small mole below his lip, and his pale violet-coloured eyes. He had this serious, yet sophisticated air around him. The girl was what anyone call attractive, with her big, emerald green eyes, her face shape, and how her long, brown hair just seemed to suit her even more.

When the girl saw Matthew, her eyes shot wide open with a sudden happiness, excitement, and, surprisingly, recognition as she flashed a smile of amazement. She clasped her hands together, and got so close to Matthew that their noses nearly brushed together.

"Are you Matthew? The Kirkland's kid?" She said happily while she got near Matthew, causing him to blush a bit when he said his name. It was eerie that she seemed to have recognised him when he had never seen this girl before. And she didn't mistake him for Alfred either. But, as always, it seemed like she only know him because of his father.

"U-Um," Matthew started, taking a step back away from the weird girl. "Y-Yes, but who-" Before he could continue, the girl started to seemingly examine him, circling him as she looked at him from his shoes to the one curl that stuck out. He could hear her saying "uh-huh", "he was right!", and something about his height.

"Oh it's true; you **are **so cute in person! And you do have violet coloured eyes!" She squealed, as she brought up a silver camera _(wait…where did she get that from?!_). "Can I take your picture, please?"

"A-Ah," Matthew stuttered, completely taken aback. He felt a blush forming, and he started to fiddle with his thumbs. He didn't know what she'll do with his picture, but he guessed it was related to school, like the yearbook or something. "S-Sure, I guess…"

"Thank you so much! Smile for the camera, please!" _Click! Click!_ She quickly two photos in an instant, and looked down on the screen. Her eyes had this gleam like she was fantasizing about something. "Aw, I love your smile! It's absolutely adorable!"

"U-Um, not to be rude, b-but who a-are you?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Of course you wouldn't know me," she said with a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck embarrassingly. "My name's Elizabetha, from Hungary! But, most people call me either Eliza or Liz, but mostly the first. I'm in the same grade as the idiot up in the tree, and Roderich." She pointed her thumb in the brown-haired boy's direction beside her.

"Hey, who're you calling a _dummkopf_, Eliza?!" Gilbert yelled, but was ignored by Elizabetha, who came closer to Matthew.

"I've heard a lot about you, Matthew!"

"You have?" Matthew said, taken by surprise. It's not every day that someone would hear about Matthew, since they may forget him completely.

"Yep!" Elizabetha replied happily, a mysterious smile appearing on her face. "You have a really annoying younger brother named Alfred, your last name on most documents is Williams, but you can also say either Bonnefoy or Kirkland, you're really cute in person, is really smart and excels academically, specifically math, have this adorable curl that sticks out of the rest of your strawberry blonde waves, have eyes the colour of lavender, likes to eat pancakes with maple syrup, always fidgets whenever you're embarrassed, nervous, or hesitant about something, blushes this incredible shade of red that just makes you look even more cute...Shall I go on?"

"H-How?" Matthew asked, embarrassed at everything she had said. Okay, what she said physically is true, but it still sounded creepy how she could say all this about someone she never met.

"Oh you know," Elizabetha said, her smile shrinking into a sly smirk. "There is no one in this school that I **don't** know a bit about. And plus…" She leaned into Matthew's ear and whispered, "Lover-boy up in the tree rants about you 24/7 to me." To this, a profound crimson blush grew on Matthew's cheeks, and he looked away a bit uncomfortably.

Elizabetha giggled, "He was right, you do turn this shade of red when you're embarrassed! And you look really cute like that, too."

"H-Hey! Elizabetha, what are you telling Matthew!" Gilbert yelled uneasily, as he crawled down the tree a bit and landed on his feet perfectly. Elizabetha turned around, and walked up beside Roderich, who was ignoring everything around him in order to memorise the music lines.

"Oh, nothing," Elizabetha said with fake innocence in her voice, this evil glint in her eyes.

"I heard what you told Birdie!" Gilbert continued, walking up to Elizabetha, who also walked up to Gilbert, as if there was no way she was going to back down.

"Not my fault it's all true," Elizabetha said in a sing-song way.

"Matthew, don't listen to what she says," Gilbert said, not tearing his menacing glare away from Elizabetha. "She just spurts out some random garbage. You shouldn't have given her your photo, either! You don't know what half the pictures are in that camera of hers and what she does with them-"

"You don't know what art is, Gilbert," Elizabetha scoffed, raising her camera proudly. "This contains the most gorgeous pictures you'll ever see on the face of Earth that I must share with my fellow sisters and brothers who love these, like me!"

"More like they are the most gorgeous pictures that people who share the same dirty interest as **you** will ever see on the face of Earth," Gilbert muttered.

"Hey, they go for a _very_ excellent price," she said as she rubbed her hands together in a shady motion. She paused, before continuing with a sneaky smile, "Don't deny it, Gilbert. If I remember correctly, you're the one who asked me to take a picture of your Bi-"

"Shut up! Don't say some random shit, Eliza!" Gilbert interrupted her abruptly, trying to grab the camera out of her hands, but she dodged his grab.

"What did you say again?" Elizabetha taunted, as she continuously dodged Gilbert. "Oh, right! 'H-Hey, Eliza, this is the only time I'm asking you this…a-actually, I-I might ask again b-but… c-can you get me a photo of M-'"

"I said shut up, Eliza!" Gilbert yelled, with redder colour growing on his face, and much more yelling ensued. "And I never stutter, or do I sound like that!"

Matthew was tuned out during most of their arguing, since he was concentrating on calming his fast-beating heart that he swears that everyone could hear. When he finally did, he noticed that Roderich as gripping on to the papers in his hands, seeming like he was trying to remain calm, but might lose it at any second…And he lost it.

"BOTH OF YOU, CAN YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?! I'M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE! _VERDAMMT, _IF ONLY I HAD MY PIANO HERE, THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO EXPRESS MY FRUSTRATION IN WORDS!"

Both Gilbert and Elizabetha stopped at once when they heard Roderich yelled angrily at the duo. He took in deep in order to compose himself, and his calm air returned.

"…Yeah, Eliza, listen to what your boyfriend says and shut up!" Gilbert broke the silence, before quickly walking up to Matthew, and quickly grabbed him by the hand. He tugged on him, urging him to pick up his pace as he quickly dragged him away. They could hear both Roderich and Elizabetha yelling at the same time.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"I'm not her boyfriend!"

"You're both in denial~!" Gilbert yelled back, laughing out loud as he pulled Matthew in through the double doors that led into the school. As they walked, Matthew noticed a small tuff of yellow that was hidden in front of Gilbert's shoulder. He was about to lean in to see what it was, but Gilbert interrupted his actions.

"Sorry 'bout that Birdie. I guess we can't sit there today," Gilbert said with a nervous chuckle in the middle of the hallway. "Those jerks won't leave us alone if we stay there."

"That's not nice of you to say, Gilbert," Matthew whispered. "They are…nice."

"Yeah, well, you're first impression of them will change if you know them as well as I do. They're so mean."

_I'm pretty sure they're only rude towards you,_ Matthew wanted to say, but he restrained himself for saying so.

"Where can we go now?" Gilbert muttered to himself, trying to think of a place to go.

"I don't know. A place where no one interrupts or distracts us?"

"A place where no one can interrupt us…" Gilbert's mind trailed off, before he looked at Matthew in a way.

"W-What?" Matthew asked when he caught the suspicious glint in Gilbert's eyes. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

"I'm considering whether you won't tell anyone…"

"Tell anyone what?"

"I know a place, but you can't tell anyone about it, or I'll be in even more shit than I already am with the old man. Hell, no one is even allowed to go there, it's always lock to begin with, but I have the keys…" Gilbert muttered, as if talking to himself more than with Matthew. Then took hold of Matthew's hand and started to lead him down the hallway, towards the staircase that led to the fifth floor.

"Gilbert, where are you taking me?" Matthew asked, not liking the sound of 'no one is even allowed to go there' and 'it's always lock to begin with, but I have the keys'. He wasn't one to break the rules, and prefers to stay out of trouble. They started up the stairs, and walked down the hallway of the floor, until they were in front of a door that said '**_Authorised Staff Only! No Students Beyond This Point!_**'. Now Matthew did not even want to go there at all.

"Gilbert, what are you-" Matthew started, before Gilbert quickly placed a finger over his lips to shush him, as he checked down the hallway, as if scanning the area to see if it's clear from anyone.

"Calm down, Birdie. You make it sound like we'll get in trouble or something," Gilbert muttered as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a set of keys, and inserted one into the door. With a quick turn, the door unlocked, and he opened it quietly.

"We will get in trouble! Can't you read the-" Alas, he wasn't able to finish his sentence, because he was quickly pulled in through the door, and Gilbert locked the door from the outside before closing it.

"Geez, Birdie, haven't you broken at least a few rules before?" Gilbert asked with a small laugh at Matthew's worried expression, as he gestured Matthew to follow him up another set of staircases that led to another door. "Don't worry. People won't be able to get in from the outside."

"N-No," Matthew mumbled as he trailed behind him.

"Maybe the awesome me should teach you how to be rebellious."

"No, thank you. Where are we going, anyway?" Matthew asked, as Gilbert pushed open the door.

"Oh, just the roof," Gilbert stated simply, as he forcefully pulled Matthew through the door.

"The roof?!" Matthew exclaimed as he got dragged outside. Sure enough, they were on top of the roof of the school. There was a tall railing that surrounded the roof area, and some small flower-beds with a variety of flowers that are still in bloom there. Looking how there were no multiple footprints on the marble floor. It seemed like that people have forgotten about this place, and only a few come up there to water the flowers.

"What's wrong, Birdie?"

"G-Gilbert, we're not allowed to be here…" he muttered the reply, looking back at the door unsurely. "We should go back downstairs, or else we'll be in trouble…"

"Man, you must have never gotten in trouble before," Gilbert laughed, gesturing him to follow him across the roof towards the railing. "Calm down, Birdie! You have to learn to relax! Come over here, why don't you?" Hesitantly, Matthew walked up beside Gilbert.

"How did you even get the key…?"

"I always find the extra set in the old man's bureau," Gilbert said, lying backwards against the railing with his arms, glancing at Matthew. "Check out the view here,"

The view was pretty cool, Matthew had to admit. He could see the whole school field from the side he was in, and he could see the dorms that were further away, but to the side. There were people scattered all over the place, and he could see most of the trees and flowers, but they were all miniscule to him. He could only see a bit beyond the school's gates, where there were mostly spaces of grass distanced the school away, but the nearest neighbourhood was there and nearby that was where a mall where students might hang out after classes were over.

In the town he lived in, the school is located in the corner of the whole town, where it's more in a quiet, residential area, although it was a reasonable distance to nearby services (like the mall). Downtown was the place to go for a more urbanised feel.

Matthew slowly walked away from the railing, standing a few steps away. He never was a fan of high places. It's like he's paranoid that he's going to fall off. He hadn't been through anything that would make him afraid of heights, but it might be because of all the things Alfred had told him about buildings that traumatized him, and how he'd push Matthew just to scare him.

"What's up with you, Birdie?" Gilbert asked, noticing how Matthew far behind he was.

"I…I-It's nothing," Matthew muttered, as he walked up to the side of the doorway, in the shade. "C-Can we just get started, already?" Gilbert looked at him questioningly, but did not argue with him and sat beside him on the floor. They were about to start, but Gilbert didn't take out any books.

"Hey, Birdie?"

"Yes, Gilbert?" Matthew asked, as he saw the youth lay tiredly against the wall, pushing his bag away from him.

"Can we not study?" Gilbert asked laxly, stretching his arms and intertwined hands outwards, and then placing them behind his head as he lay deeper. He lay down on the floor, putting his most-likely bag underneath his head as a pillow. "I'm too tired to be answering questions."

"You're so lazy," Matthew replied as he also laid his back against the wall. "Fine. What do want to do?" Gilbert shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know," Gilbert replied. "Nothing I guess…"

"Well, you're suddenly boring."

"I'm just tired."

"You weren't like that before."

"Walking up all those stairs wore me out."

"Yeah…" Matthew said, as he took out his lunch. He may as well eat it. But, then again, the sandwich did not look really appetizing at all. Matthew just decided to take a few bites, before wrapping the rest and putting it in his bag. He'll eat it later.

Gilbert just glanced at Matthew. He noticed his hands were sitting on his lap, fingers tapping a bit as he looked up towards the sky.

"Whoa, _Vögelchen_! You have such small hands!" Gilbert exclaimed suddenly, both his hands holding on to Matthew's. Splotches of crimson grew on Matthew's cheeks at the sudden touch of the other's hands. He brought them up close, as if inspecting Matthew's delicate and small fingers. Matthew's were slim and sort of soft, whereas, compared to Gilbert's, where bigger in size, and obviously worn out with rough callouses on the tip. It was quite embarrassing for Matthew whenever someone would take note his hands, and would always tell him how it looked more like female hands than male. But, Matthew noticed other things about Gilbert's hands. Closely, he could see some faded scars along his hand and arms, and the skin on his knuckles looked like he punched a stone wall multiple times.

"Sexy, I know," Matthew sarcastically said, trying to slip his hands out of the bigger ones, but the other refused to let go.

"They're so tiny~ Right, Gilbird?"

"_Cheep~_" Matthew looked around the roof questioningly, but did not find anything in sight. Did he just hear something chirping nearby him?

"_Cheeeep~ Peeeeeeep~_" The chirping continued, and this made Matthew believe that there was someone-or something- that was indeed chirping very close by. But there were no birds in sight.

"Gilbert? Did you hear that?" Matthew asked.

"What? Oh, are you talking about _Gilbird_?"

"Who?"

"Gilbird." Gilbert repeated, letting go off Matthew's hands. He raised his on to touch the top of his head, as if expecting to feel something there. When it seemed like he couldn't feel what he was meant to feel, the youth's eyes shot right open, and he started to look up.

"Wait, what?" He cried with worry, as he frantically seemed to be feeling his head. "Gilbird? Where are you, buddy?"

"_Peep! Peep-peeep~_" The chirping sounded louder now, and was coming from behind Gilbert. He looked over his left shoulder, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Gilbird! Don't scare the awesome me like that!" Gilbert said, taking something with intense care from behind his shoulder blade, and placed it on top of his shoulder. Matthew wasn't sure what he was supposed to see, but he saw a small tuff of yellow.

"Don't be shy, buddy," Gilbert cooed softly (something that Matthew had not expected of him).

Suddenly, a small, yellow bird peeked out from behind Gilbert neck, and walked unsurely out of his hiding spot. He was looking at Matthew, before looking away frightened, and letting out an adorable "_Peep_". Matthew's insides just melted the moment he saw the baby bird.

"I-Is that-?" Matthew asked, leaning in to get a closer look at the adorable thing. He must have gotten a bit too close, because the chick chirped in surprise, and hid behind Gilbert shaking.

"Hey!" Gilbert said with a chuckle when Gilbird retreated, and cupped a hand underneath his shoulder. The chick fluttered to his hand, cozying itself closely. "It's alright. This here is Birdie- er, I mean, Matthew! He's not going to hurt you or anything!"

The chick seems to have, surprisingly, recognized the name 'Matthew', since he tilted his head up a bit.

"It's alright, sweet-heart," Matthew cooed in his usual whispery tone. He lifted a gentle hand next to Gilbert. "I'm not going to hurt you. It's alright." The bird looked at Matthew for a second, staring into his eyes like he was unsure. He took a small step on Matthew's hand, ready to run if Matthew were to move. Noticing that nothing was happening, the chick was comfortable enough to let on his other leg in.

Slowly, as to not frighten the dear, Matthew used one elegant finger to stroke its yellow feathers gently. The bird seemed to like this very much, because it started to chirp happily at the touch, and caressed himself against Matthew. _So cute~! _Matthew wanted to say, but restrained himself.

Matthew let out a small giggle, and continued to stroke the bird. He noticed that once again, Gilbert was staring at him attentively, biting his bottom lip a bit uncertainly as if he was restraining himself from saying anything at all. A light tint of pink was growing on his face, too.

"You know, Birdie, it's not fair that you can call Gilbird 'sweet-heart'," Gilbert said with a pout when he noticed the blonde has caught him staring. "Maybe you should talk in that tone with me instead."

"Of course, 'sweet-heart'," Matthew teased, returning his attention to the bird. "You know, Gilbert, I'd never have known you'd be the type to like such cute things."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with liking cute things, okay?"

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," Matthew said, playing with the bird a bit. "I just find it…unusual, for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gilbert said, with a sudden cut in his tone. Matthew looked at him confusingly, not knowing what would make Gilbert sound that way.

"Well, you know…You're you."

"I'm me?" Gilbert asked, taking Gilbird out of Matthew's hand. Gilbird chirped at his friend's touch, and flew from his hand to his head, happily nuzzling there. "Mind explaining?"

"U-Um, well, you're…not really the, uh, sunniest person there is," Matthew replied uncomfortably, fidgeting with his fingers. "I thought of you more like…the tough, rebellious type of guy. I'd expect someone else to be into such cute things."

"'The tough, rebellious type of guy?' Or are you just trying to say something nice? Seems like you're like everyone else, Birdie," Gilbert muttered darkly, dazing up to the sky. "Or, do you have more to say? Let me guys, you think I did criminal activities: you thought that I do drug and smoke weed? No, marijuana? I got in trouble with the police? I've been into gang fights? Get arrested? Stole?"

"N-No! Why would you-…" Matthew exclaimed, surprise at what he said. But, he stopped himself from continuing soon after. He had to be honest; he did use to think that he was bad news at first. Like terrible news. He's someone that should only been known in class, and Matthew shouldn't hang around him. And, as rude as this sounded, Matthew did think all that once. But, he never knows. He just met Gilbert, and just recently started hanging out with him. He doesn't really know Gilbert much, so he might do it.

"Yeah, I thought so," Gilbert continued, knowing that he was right. "You should know me well first before judging me." There was an uncomfortable silence that befell them.

"Then," Matthew whispered as he pulled his bag underneath his head as he lay down next to the elder. "Tell me a little more about yourself." Gilbert looked at him in a way, before his view returned to the sky.

"What is there to say?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want to say."

"…Are you serious?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Matthew asked, confused. "You're the one who said I should know you well first. Or, are you uncomfortable to talk about it? It's fine, if you are…"

"It's not that I'm uncomfortable. It's just that most people would not care to listen about me. My personal details are not something people want to know about. Apparently it's too much and dark for them to handle, or something."

"Well, now you got me curious. I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I've been through some sort of crap, too," Matthew confessed, with a small sad smile.

"Oh, really?" Gilbert asked. "What would that be? Or are you uncomfortable about talking about it, too?"

"I never actually told anyone, and I don't…I don't feel like talking about it. Sorry…"

"Why apologise? I understand. It's not that easy to talk about personal stuff, especially when you never told anyone before. Plus, I'm like a total stranger to you." Now this Matthew didn't expect from Gilbert. Gilbert being understanding? Well, this is something you don't seem to see every day. Maybe he was better than what Matthew had originally thought.

"You're not."

"Well, you haven't known me for long."

"Neither have you. You haven't known me for that long."

"True, true…Wait, what time is it now?" Gilbert switched the topic, and Matthew took out his cell phone to check.

"Oh it's just…" His eyes shot right up when he saw the time. "Crap!" Matthew stood up suddenly, and took his bag.

"What?" Gilbert asked surprised, sitting up.

"Class starts in 15 minutes." Matthew said as he started to go through the doorway, with Gilbert right behind him. Gilbert processed this information

"Oh fuck! I need to go to the first floor for History!"

"And I have Gym. It takes me a while to get there from here, and I have to change too!"

"Shit. There is no way I'm getting a late for that class, or else the old man's going to fucking kill me!" Gilbert muttered as he went down the stairs, right behind Matthew. They went through the door, and made their way to the second floor, where they had to go separate ways with only 5 minutes.

"I'll see ya during Math, Birdie," Gilbert said as he went down the hallway to the nearest staircase.

"Same," Matthew could only reply and he quickly make it into the change room.

* * *

Luckily, he was able to make it to the field in time for attendance, and he wasn't marked late.

"You're such a drama llama, Al," Matthew said to his brother with an eye roll. "Really? Me, kidnapped?"

"I'm just saying, Matthew," Alfred said with a simple shrug. "You are always the first one to be in the change room."

"You're just paranoid that I'm talk to Gilbert aren't you?"

"What?! Am not!"

"Suure. Can't we talk about something else?"

"Fine then…Tell me, Mattie, does this shirt make me look good? Like, it shows off how muscular I am? Does it make me look…striking?"

"What the-? 'Striking'? Why are you asking me this?"

"Oh, no reason. Just…answer the question."

"Uh, one thing Al, this is your gym uniform that you sweat in constantly. It's not meant to make you look 'dashing'. Why don't you try asking someone who's interested in you? …Hey, wait…Are you trying to look good in front of someone, Alfred?"

"W-What! Pfft, of course not Matt! W-Why would I ever?"

"Ooh~! Al's stuttering! Now that means that you are definitely trying to impress someone! Who is it-?"

"ALFRED, MATTHEW! STOP CHIT-CHATTING AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME! AND HERACLES, WAKE UP!" Their gym teacher, Mr. Lars yelled at the two brothers, when suddenly a player from the opposite team zoomed pass them.

"Oh, shit!" Alfred exclaimed, when he started to run after the guy, but he didn't look where he was running and tripped over Heracles, who was fast asleep on the ground, and fell to the ground hard. Mr. Lars ran a hand through his straight-spiky hair frustratingly, since he had told them one too many time to shut up during their classes and Heracles to wake up.

They were in the midst of playing some flag football, with two teams facing each other.

"Alright! It's tied, so whoever gets the last point wins!" Mr. Lars said after the opposite team kicked the ball to their side and they were caught. Just then Ludwig requested a huddle.

"You two have to stop talking to each other and pay attention to the game! That goes to the rest of you as well! You guys are not covering the others like I told you to!" Ludwig said as their team formed a huddle. Yong Soo, Carlos, Tino, Berwald, Ludwig, Kiku, Heracles, Emile and Feliciano were part of that team along with Alfred and Matthew.

"H-Hai!" Kiku exclaimed, embarrassed at being yelled at.

"Ve~ Ludwig, you don't need to yell at us!" Feliciano whined.

"You make it sound like we're playing in the Olympics or NFL," Carlos mumbled annoyingly. "Calm down!"

"I need some sort of motivation, daze~" Yong Soo muttered. "Hey! Did you know football originated from South K-?"

"No, it's from America, obviously, that's why they call it American football," Alfred replied annoyingly. "Duh!"

"No, Alfred," Matthew gasped sarcastically. "I never knew!"

"Guys, now's not the time to argue…" Tino said a bit unsurely about how this conversation was going to go, but he was getting annoyed at how Ludwig was blaming the others.

"Hey, are you guys done yet? We'd like to start-" One of the players from the other team said, before he was bluntly interrupted by Ludwig.

"_NEIN_! We're not done yet, so shut up and stay on your side of the field!" Ludwig barked, and the player did not question him any further, but instead took a few steps back frighteningly.

"We need a plan," Berwald supposed, looking over at the opposite side. "Who do we really need to cover on the other side?"

"Zzzz…" Heracles closed his eyes, and seemed like he was about to topple to the ground.

"Why am I stuck with you guys?" Emile muttered. Suddenly, Emile's Puffin landing on his shoulder and started squawking some motivational things. Somehow, Emile was able to convince the school to allow the thing to stay with him. "You guys can't do anything right! You guys are really weak and stupid and-"

"Emile, shut that thing's mouth or I'll shut it for him!" Ludwig yelled. "And Heracles! Don't you dare fall asleep on us!"

"H-Huh?" Heracles mumbled as opening both eyes tiredly, before his clouded eyes landed on Ludwig. "…..what?"

"YOU KEEP SLEEPING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PASS THE BALL TO YOU!"

"Then you should just pass it to me!" Alfred said, glaring at Heracles. "You never do-"

"That's because you keep talking with Matthew, Alfred-san," Kiku said before Ludwig can say anything.

"Pass it to me, then!" the cheerful Italian asked, seeing an opportunity. "I wanna try catching it!"

"But, Feli, maybe its best if you just…run around," Matthew replied unsurely, knowing that what he did most of the time was dodge the incoming football.

"Hey, can I be quarter-back, _daze~_?" Yong Soo asked with a small pout. "I don't wanna run-"

"Neither do I!" Emile exclaimed, looking at Ludwig pleadingly. "C'mon, can I just do it?"

"You already did, and I thought I was remaining quarter-back for most of the game," Carlos said.

"You can't always be quarter-back," Tino said to Carlos.

"QUIT YOUR WHINING! You know what; I'M being quarter-back." Ludwig interrupted, looking at Matthew. "And I'm passing it to you."

"What!" Matthew exclaimed. American foot-ball wasn't one of his strongest points. "I can't catch to save my life!"

"They're going to go to the most obvious people. They wouldn't expect you do get it," Ludwig simply replied, and walked towards the foot-ball before Matthew could say anything. It was just a nicer way of saying that nobody will notice Matthew, like always. Matthew kind of guessed that Ludwig forgot his name too at that moment.

"Hut!" And with that, the team dispersed and scattered around. It seems like mostly they were covering Alfred, Carlos, Berwald, and Heracles (actually…they didn't care to cover him, because he fell asleep once again), with some on the others, except for Matthew...obviously. When Ludwig threw it at his direction, which confused the other players.

"Where the hell is he throwing?"

"No one is even there!"

"Wait…Is that Alfred?!" One of the players yelled when Matthew, miraculously, caught the ball and started to run.

"No, it's…his brother! Get 'em!"

"Who?"

_I have a name, you know,_ he thought annoyingly, but ran to the end of the field, with an opposite player chasing behind him. He managed to get to the end field before someone got to him, and he sighed in relief when he stopped to catch his breath. The blow of the whistle signaled that the game was over, and that their team won this match!

"Hey! Good job, Mattie!" Alfred exclaimed as he held the big sac with the footballs. Unfortunately for the brothers, thanks to their constant chatter, they had to carry the sac with footballs while Heracles had to take the bandana sac. "And you said you couldn't catch!"

"That is the only time I'd be able to do that," Matthew muttered, as he took one side of the sac. A sudden thought occurred as he carried the sac with Alfred towards the entrance of the school. "So, Alfred. Who're you trying to impress?"

"W-What?" Alfred stuttered out, trying to fake like he doesn't know what Matthew was talking about. "What…do you mean bro?"

"Oh Al. What was that question you asked me earlier? 'Do I look…striking?'" Matthew said with a laugh. "You are so trying to look good in front of someone. C'mon~ Tell me who it is!"

"I have no idea what you're trying to say Matthew!" Alfred said with the best attempt of looking sincere. "Honest, brah!"

"Yeah, right," Matthew replied, not buying it. Just then, Kiku seemed to have been pushed by Feliciano bumping his hip into his, towards Alfred, making him trip over his foot right into the blonde. However Alfred didn't seem to know he was pushed and quickly caught him.

"Whoa there!" Alfred said as Kiku tumbled into him, and he held on Kiku, making sure he kept his balance.

"Feli-! I-I mean, uh, I'm so sorry, Alfred-san!" Kiku stammered out awkwardly, blushing as he bent down apologetically. He glared at Feliciano, who was restraining a giggle as he frolicked towards Ludwig. "I-I, um, j-just tripped over my foot…"

"O-Oh, it's fine Kiku!" Alfred exclaimed, a light blush settling on his face, before realising that he was still holding on to him, his hand on his waist. "Oh! Sorry," he muttered as he quickly let go.

"A-Ah, okay," Kiku muttered, just realising where his hand was, as he bowed again. "I'm so sorry!" And with that, he hastily turned away to run towards Feliciano and Ludwig, with this murderous attempt in his eyes.

"Well, that was weird," Matthew said, glancing back at Alfred. He saw his brother's blue eyes on Kiku as he walked off, watching him with this soft, distant look on his face, the light blush still on his cheeks.

"Alfred."

"…" Alfred did not respond back.

"Alfred!"

"H-Huh? W-What?" He replied, snapping out of his faze. Matthew smiled cleverly at his brother's expression.

"I saw that~" Matthew sang, as he tugged on the sac, forcing them to keep walking.

"What?"

"That look," Matthew continued suggestively.

"What look, dude?"

Matthew sighed at his brother's response. "Oh, nothing, Al," he responded back. "C'mon. Pick up the pace, I have to change and go all the way to Math class."

"W-Wait, what?" Alfred asked innocently as they entered the school. "What? What do you mean by 'that look'?"

"Nothing, Al. Just pick up the pace, why don't you?"

"Uh, excuse me, Matthew? Can I speak with you for a minute, love?" Said a familiar British voice. Both the brother's stopped, and glanced behind them. Arthur was standing behind them, a mug in his hand and a packet of sheets in the other. What was he doing here? Maybe third period was his prep time. But fourth period is about to start, and they needed to change quickly.

"Uh, yes, Dad?" Matthew mumbled embarrassingly. Couldn't he talk to him after classes are over? Talking to him in the middle of the school day was just…weird for Matthew. They still haven't passed the awkwardness of passing one another in the hallway. "I have to go change now-"

"I just needed to ask something real quick, love. Where were you during lunch?" He asked, with a bit of suspicion in his eyes. Matthew gulped. He knew going up on the roof wasn't a good idea. Did his father see him walk up with Gilbert?

"W-Why?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, just wondering. I thought I saw you with…Gilbert, that's all," Arthur replied, that still suspicious look in his eyes, and a bit of venom when he said the albino's name. "I'm wondering what you were doing with him."

"Uh," Matthew could only reply, as he saw Alfred raise an eyebrow questioningly. "He just…needed help with some work."

"Hm," Arthur said with a noticeable disapproving look. "Alright then. That's all I really wanted to ask. I can't give you boys a ride after school. Just take the bus." And with that, Arthur walked pass them down the hallway, and disappearing around a corner.

"…So, you _were_ with him," Alfred said, tugging on the sac as they entered the change room to walk through a closed door, where two other doors where there. They dropped the sac on the floor in front of the door that was near the door to the change room –Mr. Lars' office- and made their way to change in the room.

"Yeah, so?"

"Nothing," Alfred muttered, as he started to take out his uniform shirt from the mini locker.

"Yeah, right," Matthew retorted, quickly proceeding to change and walked out the room.

He weaving through the students and making his way to his Math class. When he entered, he saw a familiar face.

"Yo, Birdie!" Gilbert exclaimed with a smile, as Matthew sat in his regular seat. "Guess what? I wasn't late for history class! I swear, I just dodged a bullet! If I were to be late, the old man would've killed me!" Matthew just smiled back as Gilbert started to talk randomness.

Another sudden thought popped in his head. About what Gilbert said during lunch. About getting to know him better and his past. Maybe he should ask him about it later. _I wonder what's so wrong with it…_ If only he knew.


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm such a terrible person, and I'm sorry that you guys had to wait way too long for this update! I've been enjoying my summer vacation, and I managed to find some time into typing this but...that really is no excuse for the late update .' I give you permission to throw a brick at me, for making you guys wait so long! **

**Before you guys can read this chapter, let me just thank you guys for reading, favouriting, following, and taking the time to leave a review! Thank you very much!**

** Let me also just give you a heads up for this chapter by letting you know that this chapter is going to be in Gilbert's point of view instead of Matthew's! I wanted to give Gilbert a chance, and I'll be doing a few other chapters in his POV in the future too, but it may take a while for that to come around. And also, there are some dialogue that were in German, and I had to use a translator for those parts, so if you see ANY mistakes, please let me know so I can correct them! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 10

The wind suddenly blew ferociously, forcing the leaves and branches of the trees to sway in on direction. The beginning of fall is almost near, and the temperatures are supposed to drop, but it doesn't seem that way. One could still go around shirtless and they'll still be sweating buckets thanks to the temperature.

"Hello? Earth to Gilbert." A voice snapped, as some snapping of the fingers ensued. Gilbert did an eye roll. Now what does the fucking teacher want?

"Yeah?" Gilbert snapped back, his eyes drawn away from the outdoor scenery and towards his History teacher who was standing beside Gilbert's desk. He could tell that his teacher was very much annoyed at him. Not like he would give a damn. The teacher can yell at him for all he cared.

"Don't think I'm going to be nice and easy just because you started to come to class on time," he said, trying to keep calm.

_I didn't expect you to,_ Gilbert wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut.

"What have you done during this whole period, other than gawking out the window?"

Gilbert lazily picked up his notebook as he laid his head on his hand that was sat up table. He allowed the teacher to scan through his writing, before he glared at him.

"Carry on," his History teacher said with an irritated twitch of his nose.

Gilbert just had to grin as he saw his teacher walked to the front to target his next victim. Obviously he would finish all his work already. History was actually one of the subjects he prefers. Although, he didn't like his History teacher, who in turn, disliked the youth.

Heck, which teacher didn't? With the exceptions of Mr. Lars, Ms. Karpusi, and Ms. Khemet, the others weren't actually all that excited to have him in their class. He's glad that he has Mr. Lars for Gym and Ms. Khemet for Math this semester again…okay, maybe not Ms. Khemet. Well, she is the one who failed him, but he'll actually admit he's fully at fault for failing. He won't be seeing Ms. Karpusi, since he didn't take any of the Arts courses, which sucks. He would've continued taking Drama, but his grandfather made it clear that he had to take a course that would actually help out his future.

The teacher he doesn't want, though, is Bushy-Brows- Mr. Kirkland. He would switch out of that class at all costs. He doesn't care if he has to retake Grade 10 English, or take a Saturday or Night class for it, even though that might be too much. There is no way he's going to be taught by the Brit again. It's miraculous he passed that course, but only barely. He guessed that Mr. Kirkland didn't want to see him either, which is why he passed him...but his marks were still low. Their disliking for each other is two-sided, so there were no problems for Gilbert with his mark. He passes, then that's that. He won't have to hold back from cussing Mr. Kirkland off ever again.

But, the problem is, he's now acquaintances (would he be lying if he said friends?) with Matthew. It's not bad that he hangs out with Matthew at all. He loved the younger ones presence and his character. He was the opposite of Gilbert, which is what really drew him to Matthew. The problem is the Kirkland is his father. Gilbert is still having a hard time accepting this new-found fact. They weren't related, he knew that for sure. However, he must be caution around his Birdie. Who knows what will happen to him.

"_Psst_! Gilbert!" Someone whispered beside him, drawing his attention to her. It was a girl, named Fatima. He had shared in one of his classes in Grade 9. She had a light-brown skin tone, and she wore a _hijab_ around her head (Gilbert knows she was a foreign student, but couldn't remember which country she was from.). What was her name again…Fatima? She hangs out mostly with another girl called Katherine, who was also in this History class.

"What is it?" He muttered back, glancing to see if their History teacher was near. He was seated at his own desk, and looking through sheets.

"Are you free after school?" She asked.

"No, I'm not. Why do you ask?" He responded automatically. He wasn't sure if he was free, but he barely even talked to the girl, so asking him this question made him a bit doubtful.

"Oh, I just need to tell you something really quickly."

"Can't you tell me now?"

"No! It has to be outside of the classroom."

"What does it have to do with?"

"Um, it's mostly about Kat. But, I can't tell you in here."

"Just tell me right after this class is over-."

"Why do I hear talking?" The teacher asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at both the students, who quickly leaned back up and looked into their textbooks.

"Because you have fuckin' ears?" Gilbert muttered under his breath as he flipped through his textbook, but his teacher didn't hear his comment. The people around him who had heard restrained a chuckle, before continuing to write down the answers to the questions.

When the bell rang for the end of Period 3, Fatima pulled him to the end of the hallway, behind a wall, out of everyone else's earshot.

"Is this so important that you have to force the awesome me here?" Gilbert asked.

"Well…yes…Are you dating anyone now?" Fatima asked quickly. The albino looked at her confusingly. Is that all she really wanted to ask?

"No, I'm not. Now, if you don't mind, I have to-"

"Do you like anyone?" Gilbert froze in his spot. Why is she asking this?

"No, I don't. Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Okay, okay, so, um, you know Kat right?"

"Yes," Gilbert slurred, uneasy about where this would lead to.

"Okay, uh, would you consider dating her?" This is what she wanted to ask him? Gilbert stood there uncomfortably. He never considered her- Hell, he never considered any of the girls in his school. He found it weird to look at them that way. He thought about Elizabetha, who everyone thought they would make such a cute couple, with their constant bickering, but to him it was impossible to see her as anything more than a good friend or, heck, even a sister. And she only saw him as her brother, and she likes Roderich. It was just that…girls don't really interest him. Although, he did have a crush on someone the previous year…but it wasn't a girl.

"Well…I never considered," Gilbert muttered as he pieced things together. "Why? Does she…?"

"…Yeah, she likes you and she wanted me to ask you if you could go out with her. You know, she always goes on about you to me-Well, not always, but you know what I mean? She really likes you, Gilbert, so..." It was like she was trying to make him feel guilty and say yes. Well, this was the hardest part to get by. How many girls have asked him this? Honestly, a few have, but it was always the same response at the end. It made him feel a bit guilty inside to say it, because he knew how it felt to be given an un-awesome response.

"Can you tell her that…I can't see her that way?" Damn, he was terrible at choosing the right words for this. He quickly turned around and walked down the hallway.

"W-Wait! Can't you tell me why-" Fatima asked as he speed walked, but she couldn't finish since Gilbert already disappeared through the mob of students in the hallway. He made his way up the multiple staircases, towards his Math class. Before he could reach there, thought, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

He took it out, caution to check if there were any teachers around, before looking at the screen. He saw it was a text from Vash. _Do you want to skip last period and head for the mall? I honestly don't feel like studying._

_ What, just u and me?_ Gilbert texted back as he lay against the lockers. He glanced both ways again, to see if the coast is clear from teachers. They will confiscate it if they saw him use it. And, plus, he still had some time left before the bell rang for the beginning of the next period. His phone vibrated again.

_No, Eliza and Roderich are coming too  
They're with me right now_

_What? Roddy is actually skipping? That's rare XD_

_ Yeah, I know, right?_

_ I'd love 2, but I can't skip this class _

_ What's so special about math that you can't come to the mall? Is there someone you want to see?_

_* Suggestively* Maybe…_

_Really, Gilbert?_

_Oh, liebling. You jealous? ;) _

_Barely -_- _

_Don't worry. I still and always will have a special place for you in my heart. You're just not my #1_

_Oh, boo-hoo. Flirt with someone else, Beilschmidt_

_Alright, Zwingli, but we both know you love me XD  
How 'bout after classes I'll just meet u guys there?_

_Yeah, sure  
Later_

_Ja, later_

Gilbert quickly slipped his phone into his pocket when he saw Ms. Khemet walking down the hallway, to his Math class. He sighed in relief of not being caught, and hastily entered the classroom.

His favourite person has actually made it to class before him, his nose in a book he's always reading.

"Yo, yo, Mattie," Gilbert said walking up beside the blonde and taking his seat. "Still reading that book, I see."

"Yep," Matthew replied (whispered), his view drawing away from the pages and looking up at Gilbert. He tucked a stand of his strawberry blonde hair behind his ear and looked a Gilbert with his big violet eyes as a small smile grew on his face. "I'm almost finished this one."

"Honestly Birdie, how can you sit through reading it? Books are _soo_ boring. I always quit after the first sentence…no, the first _word_."

"They're not boring," Matthew answered with an offended tone. "Books are the best thing there is on this planet! Well, not all books may be interesting to one, but it's good to read and…" As Matthew continued to talk about how great books are, some that one should avoid if they don't like so and so, Gilbert just laid back and watched him. He couldn't help but smile at how flustered and serious Matthew seemed about the subject. It was way too cute. But inside, he had a doubt gnawing in him.

The thought of Matthew kind of made Gilbert think a bit darkly now after their conversation on the roof (where they continued to go for lunch in recent days). Did Matthew really think of Gilbert that way? He knew he seemed like the type to do a lot of things that could get him arrested-and he did- but, there was so much more. So much more…

* * *

Gilbert exhaled deeply as he trudged his feet up the main sidewalk to the mall as only a few cars passed him. Matthew had to stay behind because Alfred got recommended for the school's American foot-ball team, and Alfred did not hand in the form on time, so he was afraid to see how Mr. Lars would react if he were alone.

The boy let out another sigh. He glanced up towards the sky to see that some grey rain clouds are slowly rolling in. How nice. He didn't even bring an umbrella with him, nor did he have a sweater. Maybe it would have been alright if he lived in the dorms with other students. But no, he had to live with his grand-father, since he lives in this town to begin with. So, basically, Gilbert has to bus it to his house. Oh, joy. Why does the school have to be so far away?

"_Cheep~?_" Gilbird asked Gilbert, fluttering on to his shoulder and looking up to his friend.

"Oi, Gilbird!" Gilbert muttered to his bird, holding up his hand. "Stay inside the pocket! What if you get wet?" Gilbird chirped once more, noticing Gilbert didn't seem like he was in a good mood, before crawling down into Gilbert's shirt pocket.

He trudged his feet, passing students who also had plans to go around town. He passed some boys in his grade who were walking too damn slow, and he could hear them saying something about him of some sort. He heard one say something like 'he thinks he's so tough. I don't think he could even handle a fight'. Gilbert didn't have to think for that one. He **knows** he could handle a fight. He's been in so many, and he came out as victorious…most of the times. He stopped at a signal light. All he needed to do was cross the road ahead, and the mall is right there.

Gilbert glanced to the opposite side of the road. There was a strip mall on that side, with a corner convenience store. Behind that is another neighbourhood. The albino looked at the convenience store for a moment, before looking away. There was no way he was going inside. He promised himself he will stop doing it. The last pack he had was his last one he'd ever get.

"He thinks he's so 'cool'," he could hear one kid mutter to his friends. "I had him in my English class last year. He was such a nuisance, he did _nothing_."

"Who, Gilbert? He has to re-take grade 9 Math, right?"

"_Pfft_, yeah, because he skipped the class I heard. He must really think it is 'awesome' to not attend class."

"How the hell did he get in this academy?"

"It's so obvious. His grand-father is _vice-principal_ in this school. That's the only reason. Their loaded."

"You know what I heard? He used to be in some gang ever since he was in grade 7."

"Yeah, I heard that. The place he lived in was a mess. There were thugs and street-fights ever where you go. He was one too. You can tell he got into fights with knives and shit. He still has scars. And apparently, he used to do drugs and got wasted on alcohol too. He legit smoked marijuana."

"He still does. That's the only reason he skipped classes. So he can smoke weed and get high. I can never understand pot-heads."

"Do the teachers not care? Honestly, he's a terrible name for our school, and an embarrassment. They should just kick him out."

"Yeah, I know. What an idiot. You know, I don't know why girls go after him. He's such a loser."

"I'm surprised that he has _friends_. I don't know why they'd be associated with him."

"I wouldn't even dare. He should just do us a favour and leave. We'd all be better off without him."

During their whole conversation, Gilbert was doing his best to bottle up his anger. _Stay calm, Gilbert,_ he told himself as his fist clenched together tightly. _Don't mind them. _But their words did bug him. They were slowly eating through his mind.

He took out his cell phone as he neared the entrance of the mall, and quickly texted Vash to locate him. The Swiss texted right away his location-the food court-.

"Hey, Vash. Roddy, Beth," Gilbert greeted when he saw the trio sitting on a table with a salute. Elizabetha was drinking an Ice Capp, while Roderich sat in front her, and Vash beside him. Gilbert slipped into the seat beside Elizabetha, and stole some fries from Vash's tray.

"Don't call me that, Gilbert," Elizabetha said with a scowl at how he greeted her. "You know I hate it whenever someone calls me 'Beth'."

"What's wrong with the name?" Gilbert asked as he tried to take her drink, but she pulled it away from his grasp. Gilbird popped out of the pocket when he heard Elizabetha's voice. He fluttered out of the pocket, and up to Elizabetha, who smiled at the bird, and started to pet it's head.

"Hey, little bird," she said softly, letting Gilbird walk up to Vash's tray. "Nothing is wrong with the name, I just don't like people calling me that. Like, if I were to call you 'Bert'." Elizabetha stifled a laugh. "Maybe I **should** call you that. If you want one, there's a Timmies right there," Elizabetha said, pointing at a _Tim Horton's _at the other side.

"I don't have any money," Gilbert said with a pout. "C'mon, Eliza, share! You're not behaving awesomely."

"It's only a toonie for this size."

"I used the ones that I had on hand already! The rest of my allowance is at home!"

"What did you spend the on hand money on?" Roderich asked as he helped himself to some fries (to this, Vash did not glare at him).

"Just something," Gilbert muttered, as he started to eat the fries, ignoring Vash's looks of irritation directed at him as Gilbird also started to also took a bite out of one. Not liking the taste, he backed away, and seek refuge inside Gilbert's shirt pocket. To annoy Elizabetha, he switched to German and started to talk to Roderich and Bacsh, "**_Ich bin überrascht, dass der Mall Mannschaft hat nicht kicken ihr Leute da draußen. _**(I'm surprised the mall squad didn't kick you guys out.)"

"**_wir nur belogen, um von ihnen mit den Worten: School ließ sich früh._** (We just lied to one of them by saying school let out early)," Vash replied simply back, catching on to why Gilbert was doing this. The two loved to annoy Elizabetha, mostly because she has some outrageous reactions. Elizabetha stared at them blankly at both of their words, as if trying to comprehend what they were saying.

" (What's your reason for skipping?)" Vash shrugged at his question.

" **_Englisch Klasse langweilen mich. Wir waren nicht nichts tun große sowieso._**(English class bores me. We weren't going to do anything major anyway)," Vash said, still in German, pointing at Roderich. "_._ (I forced Roderich to skip with me)."

"**_bin ich nie tun dies immer wieder_**(I'm never doing this ever again)," Roderich hissed, pushing his glasses up his face, before starting a conversation with Elizabetha.

"**_Du bist so ein goody-goody._**(You're such a goody-goody)," Gilbert teased, a grin growing on his face. "**_und was waren sie Leute hier tun bis jetzt?_** (And what were you guys doing here till now?)"

"**_Elizabetha bestand darauf, dass wir weiter mit einigen Drucken speichern und sie können drucken, was Fotos hat sie auf der Kamera. Ein paar der Mädchen flirtet mit uns._**(Elizabetha insisted that we go to some printing store so she can print whatever photos she has in her camera. Somehow, a bunch of girls were flirting with us.)" Vash replied, before dropping to whisper so only Gilbert could hear the following words. "**_einige Mädchen geflirtet hat mit Roderich, und ich schwöre dir Eliza war etwa zu klopfen ihr block off._**(Some girl was flirting with Roderich, and I swear Eliza was about to knock her block off.)"

"**_Sie haben das auch, Sie wissen schon. Oder, war es sie, die vorhatte, dass? _**(You would've done that too, you know. Or, was it you who was about to do that?)" Gilbert muttered back suggestively with a knowing wink, causing a light blush to settle in on Vash.

"N-No, of course not."

"Right…you would've used a weapon instead." Vash didn't hesitate to kick Gilbert hard in the sins after that comment. Roderich looked at the both of them, not knowing what they were talking about.

"H-Hey! What are you guys saying about me?" Elizabetha asked, upon already hearing her name once.

"I know, she's always jealous whenever girls go after her boy-toy," teased Gilbert, as he quickly took the Ice Capp off the table and started to drink, much to Elizabetha's refusal to share.

"I am never jealous! Who did you get that crap from?!" Elizabetha huffed, as she tried to get her drink, but to no avail, she was not able to reach. Quickly, an argument ensued between the two, and all Roderich and Vash could do was try their best to ignore them.

"**_Ó, a fenébe_**! (Oh, damn!)" Elizabetha muttered when she checked the time in the middle of their conversation over nothing, and she got off her seat. "I forgot! I have deliveries to do! I'll see ya guys later, okay?"

"I have to leave too," Gilbert said, noticing the time. He got up, "I'll see you tomorrow." The two others replied with a 'later', and both Elizabetha and Gilbert walked out of the mall together.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then." Elizabetha said when they reached the sidewalk, and were about to split.

"Yeah, see ya." Gilbert replied honestly.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot! I have something to show you," Elizabetha exclaimed as she went through her bag, and pulled out a white envelope. She took out a few photos, and handed them to Gilbert. "Tell me, do these look alright? I need to give them to certain people, so I want your opinion on them."

Gilbert started to flip through the photos, and he could feel his face slowly starting to heat up when he saw the same person doing a variety of things-one, he was caught sleeping in the library, his head resting on his folded arms on the study table, books scattered around him- until he stopped at one. One of them were the photos she took of Matthew the first time they actually saw each other face-to-face, and she was all creeper-like by saying things about him.

His head was tilted a bit, his hands were clasped together, finger intertwining each other and were in front of him. He had the short-sleeved collared shirt with the red vest, and the black tie. His wavy strawberry-blonde fell in an elegant manner, some cupping his face, one curl sticking out. His smile was the shy, closed mouth one, but he still looked adorable, and his violet eyes also smiled along with it.

"He's so cute," Elizabetha squealed. "Most of the freshmen this year are quite popular amongst the girls, but most of them can't even remember Matthew's name. They just pick him out. His smile is adorable. Am I right?"

"Uh, sure…" Gilbert mumbled unsurely.

"Do you want a copy?"

"W-What? Why would I want this?" Gilbert said, taken by surprise.

"Oh, Gilbert. There's no point denying it," Elizabeth said, wagging her eyebrows suggestively. "We both know that you have a thing going on for him. And I know you want a copy~"

"No, I don't have a thing going on for him! And, I'm not a creeper like you girls to secretly buy pictures of other guys doing _certain_ things."

"Hey, not only girls do that! There are a few guys who buy these," Elizabetha said as she folded her arms. "What's the problem? Why are you denying that you like him? You always talk about him to me-"

"No, I don't always!"

"…Okay fine, but I should hold up a mirror to show you how you look whenever you talk about him. Stop being in denial!"

"Well, why are you denying that you have a crush Roderich?" Gilbert shot back defensively.

"Hey, only you and Vash know, okay? And I only deny it in front of him, obviously. You guys don't need to say things like 'oh, yeah, listen to your boyfriend'! Do you know how awkward that is?"

"Is it really awkward? Or do you actually _like it_ whenever I say that?" A blush ensued on Elizabetha's face, as she threw a punch to his arm, to which he hissed in pain. She can pack a lot of strength in one single punch, even if she didn't seem like that type.

"Hey, watch it!" Gilbert said, placing a hand over his shirt pocket protectively. "Careful where you punch! You almost hit my pocket! I have a living bird in here!"

"Oh, shut up! I didn't even hit you anywhere near there, and I wouldn't dare hurt the baby bird! Anyway, we're talking about you, aren't we? Just answer me. Do you like Matthew or not?"

"I don't know…Maybe"

"Um, it's a simple 'yay' or 'nay' question. There's no 'maybe'."

"I don't know, okay, Eliza? It's too soon to say. I mean, I just met Birdie this year and just recently hang out with him. I only know some stuff about him."

"Aw, you even have a nickname for him," Elizabetha cooed, her hands clasped together, and Gilbert could have sworn she was going into her dreamland again.

"…Did you even hear the 'I just met him this year, I only know some stuff about him' part?"

"So what, Gilbert? Did you like someone soon after meeting them?"

"Yeah, and after a school year-long crush, I find out he's not interested-" Gilbert slipped, before quickly shutting his mouth. Elizabetha's eyes widened in surprise. Uh-oh. Gilbert never told her anything about his crush on someone last year.

"You liked someone and you never told me! Who is it?!" Elizabetha shrieked out the question. "How could you not tell me this before?! I thought we were besties! You know, we're like brothers! Or sisters. Whichever one works…but anyway, how could you Gil?"

"I got to go Elizabetha," Gilbert said, as he shoved the photos into her hands and started to speed-walk up the sidewalk.

"Well, at least say yes or no to Matthew! I need to know!" He ignored her as he made his way to his bus stop. He stood there, hands in his pocket, until he felt his phone vibrate. It was the same question from Elizabetha. She's so annoying and persistent. But, then again, she has the right to know. She did tell Gilbert first that she admitted that she like Roderich, even though Gilbert wasn't really ecstatic at that fact. He stopped his fingers from typing anything, thinking for an answer. He typed in his two letter response.

* * *

Gilbert entered his grandfather's house, remembering to take off his shoes at the front, and trudged his way to his room. He had decided to loiter around a bit, and headed to the nearby park for the hell of it. He was about to stay a bit longer, but decided against it when it started to suddenly rain lightly. He wasn't drenched or anything, which was the good thing. He dropped his black back-pack to the floor, closing the door as he took his phone and put his music on to the max. Gilbird fluttered out of his pocket, and went into a cage with his food and other things inside. Gilbert took out a pack of bird feed, and poured it into a bowl, and gave it to Gilbird to eat. He lay on his bed, and took out his PSP from one of drawers.

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb_

He started to play a game, and this continued for another 20 minutes before a sharp knock interrupted him. He quickly placed game on his dresser, got up and opened the door. He was relieved to find it was only Ludwig. He was wearing a simple white shirt and grey sweats, his hair not combed back like it always was during the day. Gilbert just noticed he was wearing a white apron.

"**_Schöne Schürze. Kann ich Ihnen helfen mit alles?_**(Nice apron. Can I help you with anything?)" Gilbert asked his younger brother as he leaned against the doorway. Ludwig looked at him with a hint of annoyance, as he quickly untied his apron and let it hang off his arm.

"**_Können Sie sich wenden, dass Musik aus? _**(Can you turn that music off?)" Ludwig asked, folding his arms as Gilbert turned off the music. "**_unten. Abendessen ist fertig. Und das Gesicht waschen. Haben Sie sich nicht auf jeden Fall, dass nach sie nach Hause kommen? Oder, mindestens ein Bad zu nehmen- _**(Come downstairs. Dinner is ready. And wash your face. Didn't you at least do that right after you come home? Or, at least take a bath-)"

"**_Ja, Mutter_**(Yes, Mother)," Gilbert said with an eye roll as he headed to the washroom. He turned on the tap, and splashed water on his face. "Calm yourself, _West_. I'll take a shower after dinner. Anything else you have to say to me?"

"Grandpa will be joining us. If I remember correctly, you got your marks for your Math test yesterday, right? I have my marks back today. You know, he'll be asking about it, right?" Gilbert froze as the water washed away the soap from his hands. Oh shit. He forgot about that. Well, he shouldn't worry, since he passed with a 60. Well, it's better than failing. Although, he'll be disappointed…like always.

"Yeah, I remember," Gilbert muttered as he made his way down the staircases, Ludwig right behind him. The brothers went down the hallways, to the dining room, beside the kitchen. They found their grandfather, Alaric, already seated there all neatly. He was still wearing his work clothes, and his long blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.

"Where were you until now, Gilbert?" Were the first thing Alaric asked when the duo took a seat opposite to each other. He didn't even look up to Gilbert.

"I was with Elizabetha, Vash, and Roderich," Gilbert simply stated, taking a sip from his glass of water, hoping that he wouldn't ask him about his test. Hopefully he forgot Gilbert told him about it.

"Where?"

"Just the mall."

"And it took you this long?" Alaric continued in German.

"Most of the buses were crowded, so I had to wait," Gilbert lied, putting some mashed potatoes on his plate, along with some vegetables.

"Oh yeah?" His grandfather asked, seeming like he didn't believe him.

"Yep." A silence ensued as they ate- well, it was only Ludwig and Mr. Beilschmidt that actually ate. Gilbert was silently, using his fork to move the food around his plate.

"What happened to that Math test you had, Gilbert? Ludwig, you had one too, correct?" _Shit_, Gilbert thought, as his red-coloured eyes made contact with Ludwig's calm blue-coloured eyes, begging Ludwig not to say anything. Ludwig caught on, and just replied with a quick 'Yes', not saying anything else.

"Well? I was told by your teachers that you received it back."

"95%," Ludwig replied, looking at Gilbert who didn't look away from his plate as he replied.

"60%," Gilbert muttered his response, preparing himself for the comments he'll be receiving. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a thin line of disapproval on his grandfather lips.

"…Did you study, Gilbert?"

"...Yeah."

"Then what happened to the rest of the 40%?"

"It went missing."

"I'm pretty sure you'll find it in summer school," Alaric plainly replied back to his comment. Ludwig looked uncomfortably between the two of them, not liking the tense atmosphere that settled in, even though he's witness these things many times.

"They're all careless mistakes aren't they?"

"...yes…"

"Where do you think carelessness is going to lead you, Gilbert?"

Gilbert didn't reply, but instead he glared at him.

"You haven't changed at all from any of your previous years. You're always out, doing something pointless. You're way below the class' average. Honestly Gilbert, this is grade 9 Math. You're in grade 10. Your brother is getting better marks then you. I never got marks below 90. You're just so-" He didn't finish his line, but Gilbert decided to finish it for him.

"Embarrassing to have?"

"I never said that." He snapped.

"Well, it's obvious you _think _that. You know, you keep comparing me to Ludwig and you. It's like you're saying, compared to Ludwig, the outstanding student, I'm the failure. Makes sense, right?" He then muttered to himself, "I'm pretty sure you say that yourself."

"And when was that?" Alaric snapped. Maybe it was best if Gilbert just remained quiet like he'd always did, and ignore him. But, he could help but yell back.

"You always complain about me! You always have to find some sort of flaw in me! As if I haven't gone through enough shit already to hear you complain about me not living up to your standards, which I try to do. It is so _annoying_!"

"Annoying? No, I'm simply stating the truth as I see it. And maybe I wouldn't have to be 'complaining' if you behave properly instead of being useless and doing nothing."

"Oh, and how do you know I do nothing?!"

"Obviously with the marks you're getting, it's like you're not trying."

"I am trying-"

"Well, you know what, Gilbert? I've told this 100 times, but it's like nothing is going through your head. You have to try harder or else you won't resort to _anything_ when you're older! I'm not going to be there to tell you what to do or what not to do, and when you have to work! You're work habits have to change or else you'll be back on the streets like you were before when you were living with!"

"Then I rather return to the hood instead of staying in this hell-hole! At least I don't get judged or told how fucked up I'll be in the future based on my grades there!"

"Then you can go! I don't care! You're welcome to leave anytime, Gilbert! No one's going to stop you."

Neither of them realised that they were standing as they were yelling. Gilbert's chair was knocked to the floor, laying on its back. He looked between Ludwig and his grandfather, before angrily leaving the dining table. Gilbert then made his way out of the dining room, straight to the corridor, taking the flight of stairs up to his room.

He didn't hesitate to slam the door hard so that anyone in the house could hear it. Gilbird was sleeping at that moment, and the noise slightly surprised him. However, he went back to sleep. The youth then laid down on his front on his bed. He turned on his lamp, bringing in more light then what the moon had to offer, and turned around to look at his bedroom's ceiling.

Words etched into his mind as he continued to look blankly at the ceiling, deep in thought. _Useless. Nuisance. _He had heard way worse things. Yet, these things that he had heard so many times still hurt. Voices started to slowly crawl into his head and he felt darkness fall on him.

_**How the hell did he get in this academy?**_

**_ It's so obvious. His grand-father is vice-principal in this school. I'm pretty sure he's the only reason why he got in. That's the only reason. _**

**_He's a terrible name for our school, and an embarrassment. _**

**_ He should do us a favour and leave. We'd all be better off without him._**

**_You'll be back on the streets like you were before!_**

**_You're welcome to leave anytime, Gilbert!_**

_ Maybe I should just do him a favour and leave the house,_ Gilbert thought dully, subconsciously drawing lines along his wrists. _Or I should do the whole world a favour and just…disappear…_

_ Yes…Disappear…_ A soft, cold voice hissed in his mind, and suddenly he felt his body go cold and a bit rigid. He could have just stop thinking about it, but he just sunk deeper. Gilbert's mind slowly turned fuzzy, and he closed his eyes. He was slowly slipping into darkness, not able to control what was happening to him. The voice started to get louder and louder…

_Honestly, Gilbert, what's the point of staying in this world? We should just…Disappear…disappear from this world-_

Gilbert's eyes opened quickly when he heard a sharp knock on his door, his mind suddenly began conscious about where he was.

He laid there a few seconds, confused at what had just happened to him. It was like he had just awoken from a dream. There were another knock on the door, and he sat up straight. His throat was a bit dry and he had a bit of sweat on his forehead. _What just…happened?_

"C-Come in," Gilbert said, his voice cracking a bit as he wiped his forehead. The door opened, and he saw Ludwig peek in through the door, his clear, cerulean eyes unsure about coming in.

"What's up, Ludwig?" Gilbert asked, as Ludwig came in. In his hands was a plate of mashed potatoes, sausages, with some boiled vegetables, and a glass of water.

"You didn't eat dinner, so I brought you some food…" Ludwig said, but his voice trailed off a bit.

"How were you able to get this up here without grandpa stopping you?" Gilbert said as he accepted the plate. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until he saw the food, and his stomach let out a low growl.

"After you left, he got a call from Mr. Vargas and he had to leave." Ludwig simply replied, as he took a seat on a chair across from Gilbert's bed.

"Geez, thanks West," Gilbert said gratefully as he started to stuff some food into his mouth.

"No problem, East," Ludwig said with a small smile. He then looked slightly down, as if he was thinking of something. Gilbert noticed the look in his younger brother's eyes, like something was also bothering him.

"What's wrong?" Gilbert asked after a few minutes of silence between the two. Ludwig looked at with a slightly confused face.

"What do you mean, what's wrong?"

"You look like something's annoying you," Gilbert replied, taking a few gulps from the glass.

"Nothing is wrong."

"Now that's loads of crap. C'mon. You know you can tell me anything, right? I've told you that before."

"Yeah, about a hundred times, along with you telling me how awesome you are."

"So? What's up? Did you ask someone out and they broke your heart?"

"No, that's not it," Ludwig sighed, as he avoided eye contact with Gilbert. He bit his bottom lip, and looked like he was trying to think of how he should reply to his question. A silence fell between them, as Gilbert stared at Ludwig, expecting him to reply.

"_Bruder_?" Ludwig started after a few more seconds of silence. He looked down, and he took out the black string from his necklace. It had a black cross pendant, outlined with silver metal.

"Yeah?"

"You…Do you remember how I…was in the hospital when I was around 12?" He started to fidget a bit with the pendant. "And it was all weird and I couldn't remember any of you guys?"

"A-Ah," Gilbert managed to say, taken aback from his younger brother's question. He blinked a few times, and cleared his throat. "Yeah. What…about it?"

"Oh, um…you know how, I don't remember anything before that?"

"Uh…yes…"

"Okay," Ludwig sighed, rubbing his temple. "Well…first, can you…tell me how?"

"Tell you how what?"

"Can you tell me about how I ended up in the hospital?"

Gilbert sat there frozen, staring at Ludwig with wide, crimson eyes. He could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment, and a sudden lump of emotion started to build up when a memory of what Ludwig was talking about flashed through his mind. This question is something Ludwig had asked before, but Gilbert hadn't heard it for so long now.

"Nothing happened. You just fell asleep, and you just woke up without knowing anything."

"Right. So, I just fell asleep one day and I somehow was able to have a cast on my arm?" Ludwig asked sarcastically.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Stop it, Gilbert. You told the same thing over and over. How long are you and grandpa going to stop hiding what happened?"

"Who says I'm hiding anything?"

"You're not telling me what actually happened. Why can't you just tell me?"

"How is knowing going to help you Ludwig? Nothing's going to happen whether you know or you don't know. What happens in the past stays in the past."

"I'm just curious, Gilbert," Ludwig said, rocking the chair back and forth impatiently. "What's wrong with knowing?"

"Nothing's wrong with knowing." _I just don't want to remember the past, that's all_. Gilbert thought darkly. "I just think it'd be best if we don't talk about the past."

"Not like I even remember anything before I woke up for me to talk about," Ludwig muttered to himself. This conversation wasn't leading to anywhere for now, and it was making Gilbert very uncomfortable. He just stretched out his arms and replied,

"Man, I'm so tired! I may as well take a shower! Can you be a nice brother and bring my dishes to the kitchen please?" Gilbert asked as he grabbed his towel that hung on his closet door, and casually strode to the bathroom.

"W-What?" Ludwig asked, looking outside his room. "No way! Do it yourself!"

"Please?" Gilbert whined as he lay against the doorway of the bathroom.

"…Okay, fine," Ludwig grumbled irritably, returning back into Gilbert's room. He emerged out with a plate and glass in hand, shooting him a dirty look when he passed Gilbert.

"Thank you. I love you too," Gilbert teased, and he swore he saw the edge of Ludwig's lips turn upwards into a smile, like he was trying to supress a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," Ludwig said as he walked downstairs.

* * *

_ He stared out the window of the car he was in, along with Ludwig and his parents. Gilbert sat in the back seat of the car, and Ludwig had moved over closer to Gilbert, laying his head on his brother's shoulders, trying to ignore the constant arguing they heard from their parents. Honestly, couldn't they wait until they got home to argue when they get home like they always did?_

_ Gilbert couldn't remember what they were talking about. But, he was pretty sure it was something extremely stupid, like always. He had heard them argue way too many time, with at least one of them blaming him and his brother for how shit their lives are. He was pretty sure that his father was drunk as he drove, too. It must have been because of his carelessness on the road that caused what happened next. _

_ All too suddenly, a harsh impact was made on the other side of the car, mostly at the front with his father drove. It wouldn't have been that bad if it weren't for the fact that they were on the high-way, and right beside the railing, blocking cars from falling down the steep hill._

_ Everything else was spinning for Gilbert. All he can remember is the car starting to roll, and everything was spinning, along with the car being crushed and the glasses breaking. Some of it made contact with his skin. Before he could even progress anything, he must have hit his head on something hard, because the scene suddenly started to fade into darkness. The distant sounds of sirens were the last thing he heard before losing his consciousness._

* * *

The next morning, when Gilbert woke up to get ready for school, he was feeling oddly very depressed. It didn't stop there. It was eating away at him right up till the beginning of lunch that day. That dream he had last night just added on to what he felt before during that night. He needed to get rid of this feeling. And how was he supposed to do that? Easy- he had found a way to release stress in a way that it came in a pocket-sized box filled with tobacco filled rolls.

He knows how he promised himself to never inhale that shit ever again since last month during the summer, but he was starting to feel the urge for a while now, and he couldn't resist the temptation. So, the moment the bell rang, he just made his way straight towards the roof. He was supposed to meet Matthew that day too, but if he's pretty sure he'll be done before Matthew came upstairs. It was just going to be one little breath anyway. Nothing too big. And it's not like he was going to buy another pack later.

Gilbert laid against the railing of the roof, looking off to the distance. Ever since their first visit up here, he had decided to let the door be unlocked so Matthew could just let himself in during lunch. He'll give him a key later, if he can find another one lying around.

Taking out the packet and a lighter from his bag pocket, he took out a piece from the pack. He hesitated a bit before lighting the cigarette. He finally lit it up, and inhaled the tobacco-smoke slowly. It's been too long since he had taken one. The taste was bitter and terrible in his mouth, but he soon got used to it as he started to inhale and exhale deeply. The more Gilbert did this, the more he actually felt a bit of relief. He didn't know why, but he always felt that way whenever he inhaled that poison. Just as the smoke flows and disappears into the air, so does his feelings and stress he's been having.

Gilbert knew that he'd get into a lot of trouble if he was caught smoking, especially on school property. Already he's in a deep hole and having a hard time getting out of it. He doesn't need to dig deeper. Maybe he shouldn't have decided to take his time smoking. Or, actually, maybe he shouldn't have decided to smoke on the roof at all.

Because, suddenly, he heard the door to the roof behind him open as he drew in a deep breath from the cigar. And the soft, quiet voice of Matthew asking, "…Gilbert?"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one! Please, if you want to, leave a review :) Thanks for reading, and until next time! I promise to do my best to update quickly!**


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